Guardian & Monster
by Alrye
Summary: Cursed as an infant for the Sins of his Father, Thor has grown up raised by his Mother and Mother Jalan. Over all he is a kind young man, charming and friendly but under the surface he is a cruel hunter, a ruthless executioner and an tamable beast! But there is a Blessing woven into his Curse, but what does that have to do with a small blue Prince(ss) and strange Elves?
1. Prologue

"You unfaithful bastard!" Screamed the enraged queen, two of the guards caught her by her arms and held her back. Eyes of the sharpest blues glared into the single blue of her husband. "You horny cur! How dare you! How dare you!"

The room was a mess of chaos as servants coward before their queen's rage and the demon woman standing by the crib of their newborn prince, said babe held in her golden arms as liquid gold moved up and down her body like living water. The woman's long hair was braided so tightly it was almost as thin as a whip. Her golden green eyes alight with power and rage.

"Ohh, another woman?" The demoness purred. "I thought you were not wedded Odin, son of Bor."

"You would've come after my wife and unborn son. You would have slewed them both as retribution for my slaying your offspring." He stated calmly. "I did not lie, simply did not correct you. As for you my wife, I did slay the demon plaguing the outer villages, just not its mother."

"You think that makes me feel any better?! How do I know that you did not sire the creature!? And slayed it to hide your faithless adultery!? And you even dare to trade my child to her!? You know nothing of Women! We do not take kindly to the things you have done! She will kill our child!"

"She is right, Odin Liar." The Demoness grinned, showing off dagger like teeth, her beautiful face morphing and warping into something alien and inhuman, but then it changed back as the baby in her arms awoke and began to whine looking for his mother and some sweet milk. "Ooh, ooh, shh... shh my sweet, shh..."

The Demoness gently rocked him, cooing and whispering gently, kissing his brow and for a moment she felt that happiness she once felt for her dead children. And then she snapped her eyes open, her hair whipping out like crack of thunder to pierce through the flesh of several guards who dared to attack. Killing them instantly and smashing their corpses into the walls of the nursery.

"... Hmm, I believe I've come up with a fitting punishment for you, Odin the Faithless." She hissed, her hair moving in the air now like the lazy sway of a dragon's tail when bathing in the sunlight or laid on heated rocks. "I will allow your son to live, but!" At this she held a clawed finger to the babe's lips and some of the liquid gold on her skin gathered into a thick drop that clung stubbornly to her claw only to break off and fall into the wailing babe's mouth. "He shall be cursed. To become that you fear, that what you hunt! A monster! But unlike my other children, this one will not be slain for none would dare to kill the AllFather's child. To risk the AllMother's wrath. But I will be kind as well. For this Curse comes with a Blessing. But only our child will know what it is and only he will be able to find it, if he lives that long."

With that she wrapped her hair around the babe and used it to carefully hand him to his mother. The Queen frantically looked him over before she held him tight in her arms and sobbed. The Demoness smiled coldly at Odin, walking backwards to the destroyed balcony doors upon which she had first entered. Odin held Gungnir in his hand, aiming the spear's tip at her, but she scoffed.

"As the moon waxes and wanes, so will the monster our son shall become. Weak as a lamb when the sky is without Moonlight and as terrible and uncontrolled as a Berserker when the Moon is at her fattest! And should those rarest of days where the sun is blackened come, all will see him for what he truly is... A Beast in Aesir flesh." She crooned and then held out her arms, which had transformed into a pair of wings and when she turned to leap into the air, the figure of a woman gone, in her place a golden dragon flew off vanishing into the early light of dawn.

The room was silent minus the sobbing of his wife and the wailing of his child. But then his wife stopped crying, standing up, she ordered everthing that was not ruined to be packed and that her belongs, gathered and moved from her husband's chambers. Odin blinked as she ordered the dead to be picked up and prepared for a pyre, that the nursery cleaned and sealed, never to be used again. It was when she ordered that her belongings and the things belonging to her son be packed into a coach that seemed to make Odin find his tongue.

"Wife-"

"NO!" She hissed darkly, sounding very much like an angry dragon herself, her eyes alight with magic, the air around her shimmering with it. "You slept with her, you have slept with others as well! By the Nine Mothers, I should have your cock for this! But no, no. I am leaving you, this place and I am going to live in the Outer Village! There I will raise MY son with your Demonic Mistress! Because I will not allow you to influence my child! I will not have you training him to be a weapon of war for you! I will not allow you or anyone to treat him as an animal!"

"He is my son, Frigga!"

"Did you carry him for nine months?! Did you spend three days in labor with him!? Did you nearly die so that he may be born and live!? Did you even hold him? Did you? You had not come to see me since I became too big to leave the bed, you went to 'slay the demons' while I was left here to rule and worry, to birth your child and you did not come home for almost a month! And when you finally do come home you wish to take me to bed before even coming to see your child! You had hoped if I was too busy on your cock, your Mistress could come steal our babe!"

Odin's jaw tightened as did his grip on Gungnir, the spear humming dangerously with power. Frigga stood up straighter, her shoulders back, chest puffed up and chin out daring him to strike her and their babe, daring him to prove to all still in the room that he was not nearly as noble and just as he made everyone thing, that he was not a faithful and loving husband, a caring or doting father. He was Odin, the Ogre, Odin the Deceitful, Odin the AllFather, but now, now he was Odin the Shamed, the Dishonored, the Bastard.

No matter how furious he felt, Odin did not strike nor did he stop her from leaving. He did not even stop the handful of maids, 12 of them with their young daughters and 9 of his guards leave with her. He watched from the Nursery balcony long after they vanished from his far sight, but he knew his Gate Keeper, Heimdall could still see them and watch over them as he watched over all of the Nine Realms. It was not until evening that he finally turned away and left the now empty room, the castle was quieter, duller, lonelier. But he ignored it for he was the AllFather and he had not only his kingdom, but all of the Realms to govern, he would not miss his Wife nor his Son for he knew where they were and knew it was only a few hours by horse back to go see them...

Upon arriving in the Outer Village the people came to see their Queen riding on a horse a babe tightly bound to her chest as a procession followed her. She arrived before the Village Leader's home and the elderly man looked up with awe and concern.

"My lady?"

"The mansion on the edge of the Demon's forest, is it livable?" She demanded in a gentle tone.

"Yes, but.. my queen-"

"No longer." She told him.

He blinked and looked her over and realized she was dressed in a fancy dress, yes, but she was wearing the armor of a mid ranked Shield Maiden, she did not wear any fancy jewels save for her wedding band on a simple string of thick leather. She may not wish to be called Odin's wife any longer, but no matter how furious she was, she loved him still to keep the ring he made for her, to wed her with.

She had a Vanaheim made silver short sword on her hip a long dagger on the other and her once long hair was shorn short, something done to shamed warriors or one does to themself when they desert their positions. It didn't take the old man long to figure out that the Queen had left the AllFather's hall of her own accord and has made herself look the part of the shamed party. Turning to his young granddaughter, he asked her to bring him the key from his desk.

"The Demon is dead, but its mother lingers."

"I know. She came to visit me in my former home. She has placed a curse upon my babe and I will be damned if I will stay in a gilded cage and do nothing." She spat out, dark and full of all the fury only a mother could produce. "Forgive me, I've had a terrible day and many more to come. A warning, Headman, do not allow your people to wander at night when the Moon is at its Fullest nor to venture out on the days the sun turns black. I cannot speak of what will be fall those who do not obey."

"Yes, my lady... Ah thank you my dear." He took the key from his granddaughter and handed it to Frigga who thanked him, apologized once more and then she and her company were off.

The Mansion was only an hours ride away, sitting on a nice hill above the small village, almost hidden by the trees. It was a very lovely if not disquieting building, polished stone and mortar bricks of a natural earthy tan made up the outer walls of the ground floor while the second story and third story were either dark wood or dark stone that looked similar to wood, however the wrap around decks of the main floor and second floor were strong and sturdy wood, the railings of marble. The roof was a rich navy blue and shingled to minimize leaks. The windows were large and seemed to surround the whole house, making it bright and airy.

It was almost comical how perfect the house was, an outsider who did not know any better would think the villagers mental for not using the house themselves or renting it to the nobles. But then they would learn the terrible price one must pay to live there. For the Dragon and her hatchlings raid this mansion, from the chickens to the goats from the cows to the horses, they've stolen and eaten them, and if those living there dared to enter the forest, they were felled, torn limb from limb. Their remains then carried back by the clutch of dragons to be dumped upon their heads as a warning. But that was then, and now it was Frigga who wished to dwell here.

Dismounting, she checked her babe, the darling sleeping soundly wish his little face buried in her bosom, his little ear pressed to where her heart beat at its loudest, a steady and soothing rhythm that rarely changed. The others followed suit, gathering their things as she stepped up to the door and with the key unlocked it. But upon entering, she gasped seeing the house already clean and furnished. The fireplaces were all light with bright but small fires, windows were cracked open to air the building out without letting the warmth leave too quickly. She was almost tempted to explore, but then she frowned, spun so quickly, one could only see the flash of silver and blur of gold, her sword and dagger drawn and held to the neck of the Demoness who smiled coldly, neck proudly displayed as Frigga held her weapons in place.

"Welcome, Queen Frigga, to my domain..."

"I am no longer Queen, I am Frigga." She growled low.

"Then Frigga the Brave you are..." The she demon nodded, looking from her to the sleeping babe, her face softening into a loving and mournful look. "I've made a mistake... One made in anger, but sadly demons do not feel regret... But know that I do wish I could."

"You were punishing my husband." Frigga nodded. "However I cannot help but to resent you for damning an innocent babe. I'd have preferred you kill him."

"Yes, but evil begets evil..." The dragon woman crooned.

Frigga snorted, lowering her weapons and waving away the guards who had blocked the doors, ready to attack at her command. "I know that raising him will be nothing but heart ache and sorrow, but also joy and love. I want him to grow up loved, to grow up honorable and noble, humble but brave and strong."

"I want him to grow into a King that all would gladly follow." The dragon added, raising her taloned hand, but looked to the Vanir woman for permission. At Frigga's nod, she gently caressed the baby soft ringlets of gold. "I wish to raise him with you, by cursing him, I've made him my own, but I know he is not mine and it was wrong to steal him."

"You were grieving, blinded by anger and sorrow. I will forgive you in time, though there will always be resentment. However, I will not deny my little Prince knowing his other Mother. Just remember, he will not hunt humans for sport or food. You will change your ways and we will teach him all life is precious."

The Dragon woman looked shocked before smiling softly, crooning lowly in happiness and leaning forward to press her golden lips to the corner of Frigga's mouth, whispering in Draconian, " _ **Ini lex vur sepa di ibahalii, tir zyak vow aso vur tobor ekess wer Ferrod Rumag.**_ "

A chain of runes appeared around them, one snapping tightly around the Dragon woman's neck while the other snapped snugly on Frigga's wrist, a chain of light glowing between them.

"I have pledge my soul to you, Golden Mate, for only my treasured mate could tame me. Use me as you deem and know I can never run nor cause harm to you or our Clutch and all who live here are our Clutch, my precious Treasures..." She growled lowly, eyes green and bright, her pupils golden and reptilian. "My name, Frigga the Brave, Jalan of the Black Forest..."


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1~Major Time Skip~

The night was calm, the Village of Lilithorn was silent and not a soul stirred as it should be. The village had earned its name for many came to the village seeking to claim the women, who were as pretty as lilies, and were chased away by the Demoness and the Former Asgardian Queen, but later on the Demoness and the Beast. The Beast was nothing they had ever seen before. Fur of night with eyes like moonlight surrounded by blood. Its jaws were large and its teeth even more so. If the Demoness and her hatchlings had been a Pest on the best days, a harrowing experience on the worse, then the Beast was a living Nightmare.

It traveled in the night, hunting down the village streets and alleys, looking for foolish prey to be lingering before it stalks the forest that surrounds them and the lonely road. It mostly kills Wild Game, never humans as long as they obeyed the curfew. It was generally a quiet creature, but as the moon would fatten up, it would become aggressive and quite loud, roars so powerful they brought about storm clouds. It was something of a protector but also a jailer. The Demoness seemed to be the only one able to reign it in, but sometimes even the Great Golden Dragon could not stop the rage of the Beast. They had even witnessed her one night cower in fear of it as it loomed over her, like a hulking Frost Beast, maw open and teeth gleaming. They thought it would slew her, but then it turned and lunged at something that moved in the dark.

It was not until the light of dawn broke and the Beast cowered into the dark that they learned it was hapless Merchant, or what was left of him. They had learned that night, the Beast while normally calm and even tempered, was a monster. Cruel and ruthless, it slaughtered for both food and fun and did not care if what it caught was Man or Woman, beast or Aesir. When you stepped into its domain, you were fair game. But the Beast had a Secret!

By night one way, by day another! Yes, the Beast was the Devil of the Night, but when dawn broke and the golden sun reigned high, the fur melted into flawless golden bronze skin. Massive muscles shrunk down into a tall body of corded muscles pulled taught under the golden flesh. A mane of wild gold always mussed and tangled from the night before fell around a handsome face, sculpted by the Norns and dusted with a short, but finely trimmed beard, eyes so blue they glowed no matter the lighting, were sharp and expressive.

This new Beast was called Thor the Thunderer. This man earned his name from when he was but a babe and he would get so upset that storm clouds blacked out the sky and Thunder and Lightning would roar and crash until he was appeased. It was much later when he learned to control his emotions and temper, able to summon storms at will. He earned his name for he was strong as Thunder and quick as Lightning. He was trained by any and all who would teach him. The maids who helped raised him had trained their Daughters to fight, the strongest of whom was Sif. She and Thor competed often, though Sif minded herself to not anger or upset Thor.

Just because the Beast has never appeared in daylight does not mean it does not lurk there, just under the surface. She has always been at his side, well her and two others. Two of the guards had brought their families with them and each had a son around their ages. A blonde by the name of Frandal was a charming young man, but not sincere, but still the girls of Lilithorn would swoon and sigh when he sent them a smile or offered them a flower, speaking sweet poetry. He trained with Sif and Thor, though not as built as Thor nor as strong, he doubted anyone would be as strong as him, he was quick and precise. His best weapon was a rapier for it was thin and flexible, but could cut as well as a battle ax if used properly.

He could use any weapon, much like Sif and Thor, but they each had a preferred item and what one lacked the others made up for it, worked together to protect one another and if needed, to take down Thor should he enter his Berserker Rage. The other child who trained with them and befriended them was Volstagg, he was older, larger and at the time stronger. If anything he could match Thor in strength as long as it is in jest. He had always had wild red hair which later became wild red hair and beard. He was bulky in muscles, with a happily rounded belly from his love for food, but he was in no way fat or slow.

He was something of a gentle soul, but had quite the temper. He could use battle axes as if they were extensions of his arms and war maces like he uses his wooden spoon. Volstagg was a cook, and quite good. No one dares to set foot into the kitchen when he is there least they be kicked on their rump out the door or tossed out on their ears. Sif and Volstagg often laugh at Frandal when he tries to sneak into the kitchens to steal treats for his lovely 'Harem' only to be thrown out by the big redhead. Thor only saw this once and shook his head, amused to no end.

There was another in their group, but he had not come until they were about to reach adolescence. His name was Hogun, Vanir like Lady Frigga, but unlike the golden queen, Hogun was dark in both coloring and presence. Always so grim faced that he was dubbed Hogun the Grim. He was a mixture of the three Aesir: quick, efficient, and strong. He liked the mace and shield, but was not shy about knives. He had a dry and dark humor to match his overall presence, but he was also kind and caring. They had grown up together, friends and family in one group and they knew Thor as well as his Curse. When he lost control they did not blame him nor allowed him to blame himself should he have hurt someone.

They loved Lady Frigga, but were wary of Lady Jalan. The golden woman didn't take offense, she knew that after her rash and very poorly made decision to Curse the young Prince of Asgard that none who came to know her or already knew of her would never trust her fully. Even now the maids and the guards never turned their backs to her, never left their children in her presence without another adult present. But Jalan would still protect her Clutch, she swore it to her Mate and that is a vow that can never be broken. If it ever did, she would instantly turn to dust and her soul sent to the pits of Helheim.

Shaking her head, Jalan snapped her wandering thoughts back to the present as she noted her dark child suddenly sniffing the wind, body tensed and taught, like a bow string waiting to be loosed. She frowned, her reptilian features twisting and twitching with the strange expression. Suddenly Thor took off, growling loudly, the distant mountains echoing with thunder. Cursing, she lept up from her lazy sprawl on the village's Prayer House's roof, flapping her great wings only once to get her airborne and following.

On the ground, Thor raced like a bolt of lightning through the streets and into the trees. Leaping over and sliding under rocks, trees and bushes. Blackened talons digging into the earth as a long serpentine tongue lolled out of his gaping maw. The wind leading him until it changed, he dug his paws into the earth, drifting to a stop as his large ears shifted back and forth, ticking in time with every sound he could hear and then he heard it. He dove over a rock, narrowly evading his Mother Jalan's taloned feet from grabbing him.

Jalan cursed and tried to spot him again, but he was too quick. Even with her abnormally strong night vision, for a Golden Dragon, he was impossible to see, he was night itself! She growled in worry and panic, as she had passed several large game and all of which were still alive so it hat to be a human, what poor fool hadn't heeded the warnings-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

She didn't waist time, turning she dove right into the trees, zipping her way in tight turns around them until she came upon a strange scene...

The Beast scrabbled over the rock face of the small mountain range, hauling its massive bulk over the edge and then racing along the path until it came to an opening of cave and a clearing. The air here smelt strange, like breathing in air after a bolt of lightning has struck. It was also cold, his body shivering with the initial change in temperature. Ducking low, it circled, there was something here and he wanted it. Suddenly a flash of light appeared in the cave and out of it tumbled a strange human, their skin dark, but their eyes were red! It wasn't alone as three more followed, these ones standing as tall as the trees around them and twice their width.

A moment later many other humans appeared, these as small as the first, but they had strange glowing blue eyes, their leader for he was the only one without a mask and had long white hair, spoke. The small human shouted something and gasped when the others attacked three towering ones. Now you would think that the three Giants would have the advantage seeing as they were bigger, and thus logically stronger, but you would be wrong. It is not that they are slow, it is simply that they sheer numbers overwhelmed them and it seems they were previously injured.

When they fell and did not stand again, the white haired human ordered his Clutch to his side and for them to bring the small red eyed one with them. He growled silently, the earth trembling under him as the tree shook as well. It seemed to draw their attention, their eyes searching the darkness for him, some daring to move away from their numbers. He held still, crouched and waiting, muscles coiling with anticipation of the pounce. Fangs itching to sink into warm flesh, salivating at the thought of warm blood freshly spilt. It's been so long since he was last able to gorge himself on flesh and blood. It seemed the bandits and slave traders finally learned to stay away from Lilithorn Village after so many years.

He could almost laugh, one of the hapless humans was getting closer, they reeked of fear and anxious anticipation. He could hear the jackrabbit pace of their heart, and he could practically taste the sweat pouring off them. And then they reached out blindly and grabbed a fist full of his fur. That was when he allowed his eyes to open from their narrow slits. Upon seeing the white on red eyes, the human tried to scream, but he pounced before he could, catching his head in his jaws and with a mighty chomp, crushed the being's skull and decapitating him at the same time.

It took the others a handful of seconds to realize what happened, in those seconds he jumped on three more, breaking their bodies under his great weight, but when they did , they screamed as a collective, but it would not help them. Death was eminent...


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 ~Loki's POV~

Why?

Why did this have to happen!?

He wasn't really sure how it had all happened or why, but one moment he was out walking the market place with three of his guards behind him, just enjoying a nice evening stroll and then the next he was pinned down across the back of what looked like demonic horse sized goat. The rider shouted orders to burn the city and Loki cried out for them to stop. He struggled weakly, too scared to fall off and get trampled but also scared for his people. All around him screams, shouting and the sound of battle echoed.

He felt sick from the awkward motion of the beast's shoulder blades digging into his stomach while he rocked in an up and down motion from side to side. The hand on his back was only a mild comfort, steadying him so he wouldn't fall off even if he fainted right now. But then suddenly all sound seemed to fall silent. The Jotuns quickly grabbing each other and quickly fleeing into the nearest buildings. Loki gasped, his senses telling him to quickly hide! He gave a muffled curse as she forced himself onto his hands and knees, balancing precariously on the beast's back, the rider trying to force him down, but Loki quickly, and with all his strength, shoved himself up and off the beast.

Tumbling into a thick snow bank, he rolled to his feet, secretly glad he decided to pin his hair up today, and racing down an alleyway. He followed its twists and turns before he got to the end and banged on a door. It opened and a hand grabbed his wrist pulling him in just as a fierce and world shattering sound filled the silence quickly followed by the screams of the invaders and anyone one unfortunate to still be outside. Like the rushing waves of a tsunami, the roar got louder and louder as snow, ice and rock came pouring through the streets. The Avalanche took out any and all in its path, skirting around the buildings as if water curving around a stone.

Soon the rushing sound slowed and finally dulled. Loki let out a breath, closing his eyes as he tried to think.

"Prince!" He looked to the Jotun who pulled him in, the towering being, holding a cloak of rich purple material and a satchel of supplies in his hand. "Take these and take this tunnel all the way to the end! Those riders are the Dark Elves! They have been threatening war and it seems it is here! Flee quickly! Hurry!"

Loki took the cloak, it was too big, but it would keep him warm and then grabbed the satchel. The Jotun moved to a false floor and opened it up to reveal a smooth slide of ice and snow. Loki quickly thanked him for his aid, asked him that should he have the chance to inform his guards and his parents, before he jumped in, sliding a good portion down the tunnel. Once he came to a stop, he stood and began to walk. The tunnel was a singular path, but carved so that even the tallest Giant could crawl through without hindrance. But Loki was a Runt, standing no more than 5'7" only three inches tall than his own mother.

Thinking of her, he hoped he'd see her again as well as his father and his brothers. The tunnel was dark and very long, but he pressed on. He has heard of the Dark Elves, they have been seeking to invade Jotunheim since the first Great War between Jotunheim and Asgard, and almost succeeded in the second Great War when his grandfather, Mimir lost the Casket of Eternal Winters to Asgard and all their ties, contracts and treaties with the other realms severed and burned. They were left in exile, to slowly wither away and die alone and viewed as monsters.

They were once the Rulers of the Nine Realms, spreading Darkness and Death all around, but then the Light Elves, with the help of the Golden Army of Asgard fought them and banished them. Sealing their power, the Aether, into a single gem where it was given to a pair of mortal women who hide it where none could ever find it for they took that secret with them to the grave. After their defeat and banishment, no one has heard or seen of them until the wars between his people and the Aesir. His mother says that the first war caused a ripple through the very fabric of time and space, allowing the Dark Elves, who had placed themselves to sleep until the day they could reclaim the Aether, to feel the first stirrings of the ancient power.

The second war had spread to all realms, the ripple was now multiple and soon waves that woke the Elves and they came for the other Relics of Old. They stole the Death Shade from Niflheim, the Queen of the Helheim was furious and sent her troupes out to it back. The Life Water of Alfheim, the Frozen Flame of Muspelhiem, but they by passed Midgard for the Mortals had nothing worth stealing or that contained vast amounts of Magic. Vanaheim and Nidavellir were the only places besides Asgard where the Svartalfheim Elves have yet to venture. All in the Realms know that Asgard had the Casket of Eternal Winters, so he was not sure why they were attacking them. The Dwarfs of Nidavellir kept the Chalice of Gaia safe and Vanaheim was the keeper of the Norn's Loom, it was impossible to steal it or to remove it from the heart of the Realm.

The Dark Elves would have to invade and settle on Vanaheim to use that Relic. And of course Asgard had Idun and the Golden Apples. But the Dark Elves have their own Relic, the Cradle. But it was a fickle thing, a chaotic item that none could use for it was sentient and it had a will of its own. But why steal other Relics, but not take your own? And then there was the Aether, it was a power condensed into a gem. An Infinity Stone. He recalled his mother telling him once as a small toddler about the stones and their terrible and immeasurable power.

The Space Stone, or the Tesseract, the Mind Stone, the Reality Stone, or as the Dark Elves called it the Aether, and Power Stone, or the Orb. Four Stones that she has personally hear stories of from her ancestors, two others were hidden and obscure, the Soul and Time Stones. She told him that in her Tribe they believe that the very first Gods were Chaos and Death, for they existed before the Universe was created for nothing in life could be made without a little destruction and death first. She told him that the Six stones were made by Chaos and Death as the seeds of the Universe from which not only the Nine Realms but others beyond their boarders grew from.

She told him of how many wars and terrible deeds had been wrought with the Stones or to obtain them. It became so terrible that Death and Chaos sealed the stones away into containers that acted much like the Relics of the Realms. A singular Knot of magic that controlled and balanced the out put of it into a realm, but unlike the Relics, when one takes them, the Realm does not suffer adverse effects. She had drawn him a picture once of the Infinity Stones and described how an ancestor of hers had one found one and hide it as best she could for she felt its great and terrible power. She told him of a once magnificent city called Atlantis, who had in their possession an Infinity Stone, which one, she was not sure.

They were an ancient race, believing in the gods and making tributes or sacrifices to them for their continued blessing of power they got from the Stone. It seemed like all was well and he saw no reason for his mother to look so sad, that is until she spoke of how the King of Atlantis soon thought himself above the Gods, thought himself a God of Gods and to prove his might he captured Death and tried to trick Chaos into his grasp for they were the two Gods that none dared worshiped. That all feared and loathed. He was shocked that someone would dare do that to the ones who breathed life into them!

She had laughed then, cold and humorless as she told him that her Ancestor was the Relic of Chaos, His voice, His flesh and His weapon. At Chaos's command, she took the Stone and unleashed his terrible power, first by breaking the city away from the main land, shifting it off its bedrock and out to sea where she then summoned a demon of from the depths of Hell, a Leviathan. It was then she spoke of another Relic, this one another woman who represented Death, the Lord of the Dead. She controlled the Leviathan to break off pits and pieces of the massive island, forcing its people to the heart where the King was forced to activate a magic shield to protect them.

Instead he trapped them for all eternity, to live extended and miserable lives under the magic until it finally faded and they all died with out it, The Leviathan their Guardian and their Jailer but the Relics were not done. Their Masters' will not complete. All the World watched as the two then sunk Atlantis below the surface of the ocean, buried it so deep that even millions of years later none has ever found it again, but she knows it is still their, its people still trapped in Limbo with the Demon watching and waiting to finish its duty.

The lesson he had learned was that the Stones were neither good nor bad, but the ones who control it were. That sometimes even the best intentions could lead to terrible and unforgivable acts or evil intentions could lead to wonderful outcomes. That as her son, one day Chaos might call on him to be His Relic and that he had to be careful with that power and responsibility for he could destroy what he he intends to protect or protect what he's meant to destroy. That should he ever find an Infinity Stone, he is to protect it and not let it control him or others know its presence.

He came out of his thoughts then, just as he reached the end of the tunnel. He hadn't realized he was so deep in thought that he had traveled the miles long passage without pause. He almost laughed, his mother has always told him his mind wandered to other realities, it seems it is true. Finding a rounded rock to sit on, he rubbed his sore legs and aching feet with a bit of peppermint ointment, to sooth the aches and to bring some warmth back to them. Believe it or not, Jotuns do feel cold, though rarely and they do enjoy warmth, just not wild and uncontrolled flames.

Resting for as much as he dared, he stood and began to crawl out of the tunnel into what looked like one of the few forests left on Jotunheim. The towering pine trees were dark and silent, almost looking down at him. The Jotuns were a mixed race, just like any other. The Frost Giants ruled the Tundras and Valleys while their cousins, the Stone Giants took domain of the Mountains and underground caverns. While the Great Ents, guarded the forests and spoke with the Wind Giants, who raced around their realm bringing with them snow and clouds, wind and rain. Deep underground were the Magma Giants who oversaw the few Volcanoes on Jotunheim, providing their surface dwelling cousins with natural heat and warmth to make up for the Realms wrath for loosing the center of its Knot.

He wondered if one of the trees was an Ent, he heard his father tell him once that they were old and wise, but often took ages to speak for they believed that if one wanted to say something important they needed to take their time or else all the info with be lost or forgotten. His father was not a very patient man so it brought a humored smile to his lips picturing his father waiting for the Ents to state their business. Shaking his head, he quickly checked the area before he dashed out of his spot and through the trees.

As a Runt, Loki was not trained like his brothers, or taught anything for that matter. All that has learned and will ever learn came from his mother, and on the rare occasions his father and brothers. She taught him the art of the Hunt, both as the Hunter and the Hunted. She taught him magic as well and how he should always use all he had to evade or to track. And today he was the Hunted, passing the trees, he brushed his palm on them, a trace of his magic sparking into their old bark. Flashes of their lives entering his mind as he gave them flashes of his own.

An equal trade, for as he passed the tree, snow would fall from their branches and cover the path he took while creatures of the forest would scatter in all other directions, stumbling or prancing in a way to leave similar foot prints to the once he left behind. Ducking low, he slide under a fallen tree, taking its memory, a path being show to him and he fled down it until he came to the base of the mountain range that surrounded all of the Valley he lived in. He would either have to climb it or find a near by cave to sit and wait until someone from his people found him or it was safe enough to return home.

Being cautious, but quick he dashed from the treeline to the mountain's base, dashing up its small foot paths for a moment or two, slowly climbing his way to see over the forest. But as soon as he saw above the tops of the trees, his heart clenched as the air left him in a sob. In the distance, Ymir's Keep was awash with flames, their few fields burning and it was just terrible! But what had him terrified even more was the massive army that stood on the open fields watching as a small section of them finished burning his home and his people to the ground.

He collapsed then, unawares of the shadows creeping over him, as he let out a mournful howl that the wind seemed to carry with it. Dropping into a hunched ball he sobbed as he saw flashed of his father's secret smiles on his stern face, his brothers looming over him with teasing grins as they pointed out the wonders of their home to him one their rare brotherly outings, and his mother's kind eyes, her gentle smile and her Midgardian colors looking unique and exotic within a realm of blue, white, black and gray.

"Well, well, well... A lone Frostling..." Hissed a voice and he slowly sat up, turning his head to glare with ruby red on crimson eyes at the speaker.

A Dark Elf. He wasn't alone, five others all leering and whispering in low dulcet tones. Turning his head away he looked to his burning home one last time before he felt his heart turn cold. The Elf took his silence as submission and therefore reached out to grab hold of him, only to howl in agony as the young Jotun spun around, a dagger of the purest, whites metal dripped with blood, the Elf's severed hand laying into the snow at the Jotun's feet. Hissing low, around slightly fanged teeth, the young Prince glared at his attackers.

"You invaded my home. You attacked my people without due cause and you have murdered them... My brothers, my father and my mother... You will suffer for each of them." He growled out, placing a hand on the snow and a bright green Knot appeared under him flashing icy blue as the snow on the mountain suddenly sprang to life and turned to ice, piercing through the other two Elves as the last three, including the one with a stump now, dodged the attack, but he didn't allow them long to recover, jumping onto the one closest to him, he rolled them to the edge and after plunging his dagger into the Elf's chest, kicked him off the mountain.

The one with the stump snarled and pulled out a whip with his remaining hand and snapped it around the Prince's neck and yanked. He chocked and fell, the last Elf jumping onto him and after a few good punches to the face and stomach, he went limp with pain. All his fury had vanished at the pain and he whimpered as he felt magical shackles snap over his wrists before a metal gag with a soft cloth bit was forced into his mouth and snapped tight around his head making it impossible to move his jaws. Once they had him secure, they yanked him up and headed down the mountain, leaving their dead for the animals...

"Lord Malekith will be pleased with this one..." He heard Stumpy wheeze, a bloody bandage was wrapped haphazardly around his still bleeding stump, the extreme cold already starting to necrotize the flesh with frostbite.

"Mmm, such a shame... This pretty one would be a favorite among the soldiers." Growled the one behind him.

After he had been captured, they forced him to sit on the goat beast again, this time the full bodied Elf sat behind him, his arms caging him tightly so the young Prince wouldn't fall or try to escape, not like he could do much with his hands shackled and his magic subdued, even his mouth was sealed shut and he was furious all the same. How dare these pigs speak of him like he were a common whore! And he shivered in disgust as feeling the rider behind him press their masked face to his hair, breathing in his scent.

He was no ones favorite! Well whatever that meant to these Dark Elves he was not theirs! He was however his mother's favorite child, she spoiled him the most out of the three of her sons, though she loved them all equally. He was also his father's favorite for he was a perfect balance of soft beauty and deadly intelligence. If someone told him he could not do something, he did it anyway and with minimal damage. Though there were certain things he was told not to do and he did as asked because his mother was not someone you wished to cross.

"Keep your mitts to yourself!" Stumpy snarled, coughing a moment later, hissing as his arm hurt more.

"Or what? You've got only one hand and even then it is not your dominant one." Sneered the other Elf.

Before they could get into any further arguments, there were three bellowing cries as out of the ice and snow burst Loki's bodyguards! They grabbed the two Elves, freezing them solid and then smashing them to fine powder. Loki sobbed in relief as the knelt down to his level and with surprisingly gentle and careful fingers worked his muzzle off.

"What has happened!?" He demanded, holding out his bound wrists to them as they tried to see how to remove the shackles.

"The Queen caused the Avalanche to wipe out most of the Elves within the city, allowing all to flee via the tunnel system she insisted we build. We are thankful for that, or we'd have lost our precious Frostlings and Carriers." One Warrior spoke up, looking very relieved, but also worried and panicky.

"The King is gathering the army to face the Dark Elves, your brothers are preparing for their first battle at his side and your mother is about ready to rain Ragnarok upon the Elves for daring to attack us." Another said.

"Sounds like they woke her from her nap." Loki chuckled. She did love her sleep and woe be to those who wake her. "But why attack us? We do not have the Casket!"

"... The Queen... she said they are here for Stones." The last spoke up, growling when he could not figure out the cuffs. "Forgive us Prince, these Elvish cuffs are not something we've seen before."

"It is alright, but I will be useless in a fight. I have my dagger still, it lies there." He nodded to the blade that Stumpy had taken from him as a reward for not killing him outright. "And if they wanted stones, surely Svartalfheim is not so barren that they cannot mine the endless fields of rock and stone!"

"Not stones, prince; Stones! Umm I believe she said Relic Stones-"

"Infinity Stones..." he gasped.

"Yes!" The guards smiled, proud of their little prince's intelligence, but frowned when his already glacial blue skin tone turned almost snow white. "Prince Loki?"

"The stories... they are true and mother..." He brought his hands to his lips and he looked panicked. "Mother's in danger! I must-"

"The Queen has given us strict instructions to take you and to fell the Realm."

"But how!? No other Realm will help us and all other Realms have either fallen to the Dark Elves or have had their Relics stolen!" Loki cried, not meaning to sound like a whining Frostling, but unable to bring himself to care. "And it is mother who needs protection not me!"

"Prince Loki, please..." sighed the oldest of the guards. "Lady Rhyg has spoken of natural pathways, bridges much like the BiFrost that are formed by Yggdrasil's roots. That Yggdrasil has long before connected the fruits of its branches together so that all were always tied to one another. We will take one such path to Vanaheim. You will be safest there. We dare not set foot in Asgard for they will kill us on sight. The Vanir will at the very least hear our case before they decide to attack."

Loki looked stunned, but then nodded his head. There was no other choice, until these shackles came off, he was as helpless as a babe. He could still use his blade, yes, but with the limited range of motion, he would be felled before he could even kill one of his aggressors. So without further adieu, Loki was picked up into one of his bodyguard's arms and the group of four took off for one of the secret paths...

When they arrived at a tall spire of ice, Loki almost burst into laughter. For something that was very powerful and permanent magic, it took the form of something plain and ordinary. His mother would say that sometimes the most powerful artifacts are the ones that look like tools one uses everyday vs something large or overly gaudy.

"Are you sure this is the path?" on of the younger guards asked.

"Yes." Loki answered for the Eldest. "It is a mirage, the magic is sentient, it takes on a form that we are most familiar but also will not look at twice."

"Ohh..." they all awed as he was set down to walk over to it. A brilliant flash of purple light appeared from a crag in the ice, when it dimmed a cave was there before them.

"Come..." Loki ordered as he walked forward to the mouth, feeling the pull of the wind. He could hear it whispering secrets to him begging him to enter, but he waited, he did not wish to enter alone.

The larger Jotuns seemed to come to their senses and moved forward, following their prince into the magical path. It was dark, but ahead of them was a doorway of light, a gentle violet that beckoned them toward it. Around them was emptiness, but they could feel the caress of magic on their skin, tugging at their blood and nuzzling warmly into their stomachs. It was strange, almost frightening, but oddly calming. They did not deter or stray, following their prince who walked as if he were traveling down the hall from his chambers to the dining hall.

"We are almost there, try not to stray." Loki called back, feeling the lessening of the magic the closer to the other end they got. "We do not know what will happen if we do not follow the path."

They grunted in agreement, glancing down where a path of shimmering blue mist guided them to the door, but branching out from it were paths of purple and pink interlocking and spiraling into the distance. But they ignored their curiosity, for now anyways. They had to be only a handful of yards from the door when suddenly the air shifted and lightened so suddenly they nearly fell to their knees in dizziness. Loki moaned weakly as he felt momentarily mortal, it was so strange to feel weak and helpless, the chains suddenly too heavy as his body shivered from the suddenly freezing air around him.

He wondered if this was how his mother felt daily and if so, he found himself respecting her more and truly glad he called her his Dam. Shaking his head he stood up, looking behind them only to gasp as he saw the Dark Elves rushing down the path, their surefooted approach telling them that they were very familiar with the Path and feared nothing. Cursing, the guards grabbed Loki up between their bodies and rushed the last few feet between them and freedom, jumping out at the last second. They held tight to their prince and each other, landing roughly and rolling to a stop, making sure their prince was not harmed at all before getting up and blinking in confusion.

Loki blinked and realized it was very dark, while Jotuns had very good night vision, this was a darkness they were not use to for there was no snow. In fact he was confused as he felt the ground, soft, but firm bristles touched his hand and when he leaned close to breath it in, he blinked at the strange smell.

"It's... grass..." He gasped in awe before he stood up, the guards joining him as well, looking around in confused awe. "This smell, mother uses it when she washes her hair... It's grass..."

They didn't get much more than that to explore before an entire battalion of Dark Elves poured out of the path ready to attack.

"There you are, little Princess..." chuckled a low voice, a strange accent tinging the words as the last to step out of the path was a Dark Elf with pale skin and even white hair, his eyes were an ethereal blue surrounded by black. He was tall and lean, dressed in the black and silver armor of his people, but the way he stood told them he was the leader. "Come now, child, we will spare your people if you come quietly."

"I don't believe you!" Loki yelled back, but gasped when his guards let out battle roars and charged head first that the battalion. "No! Stop!"

But it was too late. The three were smacking and crushing anyone in their path, but the seeming endless number of Dark Elves quickly overwhelmed them and sadly they fell. They stood again, five times more before finally they fell and did not stand again. Loki had sat there with tears in his eyes, these three had been with him since infancy, something of family and friends, but now they were dead and he couldn't do anything to save them.

"Bring him here." Ordered the Leader as two men grabbed the unresisting prince and dragged him toward their leader. "They foolishly stood up to me, and now look at them. Will you be so foolish?"

"I hope my mother finds you and rips your heart out..." Loki growled low, the conviction and promise in his words was enough to make the Elf in front of him to flinch slightly before he chuckled and turned to his men, ordering them to make ready to cross the path once more with their prize in hand.

"I would not bet on that, little Jotun... For she will not risk your life and I will not risk damaging a wonderful vessel such as yourself."

"What-"

"AU-"

They turned at the halted scream to see something lunge out of the darkness, crushing another three Elves under its bulk as white on red eyes glowed in the darkness, and teeth whiter than snow gleamed within the faint moonlight, storm clouds gathering above and with a mighty howl the Beast attacked just as the Elves roared and charged the creature. Loki could only stare at it, but he did not see a Beast, he saw a Man, tall and firm with muscles. Hair like finely polished gold and eyes... eyes as blue as the ice. The man had black symbols that oozed like blood painted over his body, he looked unhinged grinning with mirth and glee as the blood of the fallen painted him.

He chewed with relish the flesh he bit off his victims, laughing as he tore through the battalion as if they were paper dolls. And then Loki blinked and he saw a beast of the dark howling and growling, claws and fangs tearing and rendering flesh from bone, crushing bones between those gleaming fangs as those insane eyes did not stray from where he and the leader stood.

"Lord Malekith! Flee!" Ordered one of the survivors before his head was ripped from his shoulders by a vicious bite, the head chomped twice before swallowed whole by the creature. Loki felt sick, faint and strangely warm and tingling all over, especially down there. He blushed, as he pressed his thighs together, rubbing them slightly hoping to make the feeling vanish, but it would not fade. He wasn't sure but for a moment it looked like the Beast looked right into his eyes and it seemed to sniff in his direction before it turned to stalk the last handful of Elves and Malekith, who cursed and fled back itno the path just as the beast lunged over Loki's head and killed the last of the soldiers.

It was only a moment later that the Beast turned to him, those strange eyes looking at him before it sniffed again, slowly stalking closer. It was only a scant few inches away, breathing heavily, sniffing loudly at him and Loki did the only sensible thing, he rolled his eyes and fainted...


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jalan landed with a solid thuwmp, her large golden body low to the ground as she looked about wary for where her son could be, but she need not look far for he was less than a tail span from her. He was looming over something, eyes strangely focused, body taught, yes, but not aggressive. She tilted her head only slightly and blinked as she saw a dark being laid out on its side, hands shackled together and in a dead faint slowly, she took her human form, naked save for the liquid gold that covered the important bits and random patches of her flesh. She walked slowly toward them, keeping herself within his line of sight.

It would not be the first time her son has attacked her, last time he nearly tore her tail off and it was not something she wished to repeat ever again. He startled when she placed a hand on his massive head, snarling at her eyes wild and filled with bloodlust.

"Now, now... enough you've gorged yourself enough this night..." she scolded softly, glancing at the bodies around her, three of them giants and shockingly free of her son's mauling. Surely they were dead, but the marks on them suggested weapons and not claws or fangs. "I've told you time and again not to fest on the flesh of Men. Cattle, lambs, fowl, but never Men."

He growled low at her, blood and bits of bone and brain matter dripping down his jaws, pieces of flesh and organs caught between his fangs.

"You will develop a taste for it and I will not have you slaughtering our Clutch for your hunger." She hissed in reprimand and he stepped forward all rage and aggression, she took a step back, eyes wide. "Thor!"

He did not respond to his name. The night was only a waxing Half Moon, he was not that far into his Rage, or rather he shouldn't be. He made to move once more, but then the body beneath him let out a soft moan, shifting slightly but over all it didn't stir into waking. Thor turned to it and it sniffed along it before whining softly, a worried whine. Jalan was, for the second time this night, stunned. Her son, the monster she created was concerned. Slowly moving forward, she reached out a slightly taloned hand, brushing the thick mane upon his head.

"Shh, shh... hush now, my baby..." she cooed, low and gentle, seductive enough to quiet her distressed Hatchling. A few strokes, a brushing of her claws against the flesh under the fur made him shiver and calm, laying down and wiggling slightly, trying to get close to the figure on the floor, but afraid he would frighten it. Leaning down so he was kneeling over it, she held her hand aloft, the gold liquid rushing to cover her arm and with her internal fire, she made it glow enough to light up the area. And indeed before them was young creature with skin that was blue and a long mane of hair as black as raven wings. "Ooh, a pretty little thing..."

Thor grumbled in agreement, shifting once more to get close, nosing at the being's thigh.

"Well you did save it, we shall take the poor thing home, yes?" She asked and Thor jumped up looking excited and even purred, a very rare occurance. Nodding she allowed the liquid gold to slide completely over her frame, but didn't transform. The glow covered her whole body, making the area shine like it was day and allowed her to see the remains of the poor sods in black and silver armor. Her son was not kind to them and that made pleasure pool low in her belly. Turning her attention to the blue creature, she carefully picked it up into her arms and turned to walk back toward home. Thor on her heels, huffing and purring low as he nosed at the waterfall of black hair that was decorated in precious jewels and gold...

Frigga looked up from her sewing when the doors to their mansion opened and gasped seeing Jalan carrying a young Frostling in her arms behind her was Thor. She paled and almost fainted seeing the creature her son became at night in the house, but the large beast slipped around the Demoness and through a side door where his personal Mud Room was. Jalan shook her head and moved to the living room where her Golden mate sat.

"Jalan..." Frigga gasped out, still pale and short of breath, her fine breasts rising and falling rapidly.

The Demoness looked up from those plump breasts to her mate's face and crooned low, the sound fused with mild magic to sooth frazzled nerves and to slow frantic hearts. When Frigga seemed to be calming, she carefully laid her burden on the sofa and knelt before the Golden Queen in exile.

"Ferrod Rumag... be at ease..."

"He'sinthehouse! HowamItobeatease!?" She squeaked out so fast it sounded like nonsense, but Jalan was use to listening to the nonsensical chatter of Hatchlings all day from her Clutch mates offspring, she was able to discern what Frigga meant and smiled softly, if not a bit wryly.

"Yes, our Kepesk Xurwkar is in the house. He's gorged himself well this night on some poor Men in black and silver armor. Three more like this one were there, dead, but not by the doings of our child." Jalan waved at the Frostling who did not stir more than a weak whine. "Seemed to protect it, whined and purred at it."

Frigga gaped unladylike and awed before snapping her jaws shut and looking to the Frostling, "But he is a Jotun... what is he doing here? The BiFrost has been sealed from Jotunheim's access..."

"Were we found this one there was the pulse of magic... A small clearing and a cave, the magic seemed to flow from it." Jalan told her, eyes going distant as she used her far sight to trace her path back to the cave. "A natural path made of ancient and permanent magic... The bodies still remain, their masks strange, faces with seamless lips and eye sockets completely black. Ears like the Elves. They reeked of death and darkness."

"Dark Elves..." Frigga growled low. "And Thor gorged himself on them?"

"Yes." Jalan nodded.

"Good." She preened, looking as blood drunk as Thor normally looks after a blood bath. It was a look that mad Jalan want to ravish the golden queen, but she refrained.

A low growl behind her made her turn, crouching defensively between the unconscious Jotun and her mate. But both were stunned to see human Thor standing before them in nothing more than torn breeches, but it was obviously the Beast in control still for the black oozing lines on his body stood out, his eyes were still white on red and his fangs were too large for his mouth. His hands and feet were blacked with long deadly talons tipping his fingers and toes and Thor stood on the balls of his feet like an animal standing on its hind quarters. His hair was messy, wet from washing the blood and gore out of it, even his teeth looked freshly cleaned.

So it seemed to some degree the Beast was also Man enough to adjust its appearance to appeal to those it normally deems meals. All but the Clutch. Snarling again, Thor stepped into the room, claws twitching as his eyes looked form Jalan to the Jotun, growling low in warning for her to back away from what was his. She gave a low growl, reprimanding him, but he bared his teeth in a silent growl, making her flinch.

"Jalan..." Frigga whispered, grabbing her elbow.

Jalan slowly eased out of her defensive stance and moved so she stood protectively over Frigga.

"Thor... who is this?" Frigga asked him, pretend he was not a monster in human flesh.

"Mine..." He grunted, voice rough and guttural, more animal than human. "This one... smells like Mine..."

She nodded and slowly stood, waiting for him to acknowledge she was about to move and when he focused on her, she moved to the Jotun's side and knelt down. Stilling when he two two long strides to be by the sofa as well, looming over her menacingly. She waited him out and when he relaxed she held out a single hand, the shimmer of soft rosy magic covered her hand as she touched the soft blue face. Gasping as the young man's memories rushed through her mind. She held on for as long as she could and then she pulled away falling into Jalan's arms as Thor crouched before them, his face mere inches from hers, eyes locked onto hers.

"He's the Jotun Prince... his people were attacked, possibly dead... The Dark Elves want him for some reason... He's alone and in need of sanctuary." She gasped out. "Those chains... they repress his magic, make him weak, sick..."

Thor growled and turned to look at the chains, turning he grabbed hold of them and began to squeeze. There was a creak and then a sharp snap as the cuffs broke under his hands, easing them off the thin wrists, he tossed them to the floor and examined the wrists. Pleased he did not damage his pretty one, he sat himself down and rested his chin on the sofa, purring contentedly knowing that his pretty one was safe.

Jalan picked up Frigga and carried her out of the room, it seemed Thor was content enough to stay still for the night. She will warn the others to not enter the living room until after sunrise, just in case he deemed them threats...

Loki moaned weakly as bright golden light struck his face. He turned to press his face into his pillow, trying to hide from the light. Sighing as he found a dark spot to hide in, he kept sleeping, maybe for another 10 minutes. Lord knows his mother would be in shortly to pull him out of bed by his ankles again and he would grab the headboard of his bed and hold on until she either slipped on the smooth ice or her back cracked and she had no choice but to put his feet down. It was something of a daily routine for them. After which he would pop his head up and she would huff, call him a brat and threaten to eat all the pudding.

Smiling in his sleep, Loki snuggled into the bedding, slowly counting off the minutes, his hands slowly reaching for the headboard in preparation for his mother's arrival. When ten minutes passed and he was not grabbed, he frowned. Was his mother sick? It rarely happened, but she hasn't been sick since he went on his first hunt. Slowly opening his eyes, he blinked when he was not met with the snowflake lace bed sheet he slept with over his fur blanket. No instead he was met with a crème sheet and a brown quilt draped over him.

Slowly sitting up he realized that this was not his bed, but a sofa and even then this was not his room or even his home. The wooden floors, bright reds, yellows and deep browns that decorated the room were beautiful, but not something that decorated the Halls of Ymir Keep. There were trinkets and random baubles that were not of Jotunheim decent and even then the person sleeping at his side was definitely not his mother!

"Who are you!? Where am I!?" He yelped shoving the person away only to gasp when said man snapped from sleeping to instant alert, catching hold of his wrist and yanking him from the sofa and onto the carpeted floor, pinning him down under him.

Storm blue eyes glared into ruby and crimson reds, perfectly straight, white teeth bared down at him as the stranger panted and then blinked before slowly backing up. It was a moment later that the doors opened up and Loki could see others like the man standing there, gaping before suddenly they had weapons out and were rushing forward, pulling the man off him and standing between them, their weapons aimed at him.

"What your doing to our brother in arms, Jotun!?" A woman demanded.

"Wh- what?" He gasped and then blinked and then frowned, "Excuse me, but I didn't do anything! He attacked me!"

"What is going on?" Thor wondered, rubbing his temples as he felt a headache coming. "And please stop shouting..."

"Alright all of you put those down and leave the young Civip Kethend alone." Jalan spoke up, walking into the room as the four holding weapons gaped at her. "Now!"

They flinched as they did as told.

"Forgive them, Civip Kethend, they do not mean any harm." Jalan smiled at him. "Kepesk Xurwkar, what do you remember from last night..."

Thor blinked dumbly before he closed his eyes, seeming to center himself as he began talking int the deep rumbles of the Draconian tongue. His brow scrunched up a bit as his face looked pinched and then he snapped his eyes open and looked at Loki as he breathed out the strange name the woman gave him.

"Excuse me..." Loki spoke up, flinching when all eyes turned to him. "But what is happening? Where are my guards?"

"The three Men who look like you? Dead. Killed by the smaller Men, the Dark Elves." Jalan shrugged carelessly.

Loki gasped, feeling his eyes water, "So I'm not dreaming... this is happening... this really happened..."

He fell to his knees then and began to cry. It startled the others, Thor not liking that the young Frostling was in tears, his inner monster was roaring at him to kill whoever hurt their Pretty One! Thor quickly shoved passed Sif and Hogun, dropping to his knees and pulling the sobbing Jotun into his arms. Loki didn't care who was holding only glad to feel another being there with him. He sobbed for his guards, for his destroyed home and possibly dead family. Thor didn't like this and after rooting through his foggy mind he found something he thought would cease the tears. He's learned from his mother that the Jotuns speak a dialect of Elvish and has taught it to him so he carefully pulled Loki from his shoulder, cupping his cheeks as the young prince looked at him with teary eyes.

" _Amin ona amin quenat ar' fea a' lle. Ere' leithe iire lle caela n'uma anta ten' amin ri' i' Seldarine sana amin. Sina amin vesta._ " he told him fervently, his hold steady and firm, but gentle as his eyes conveyed his conviction.

Loki was shocked, to be perfectly honest not many knew his people's language, especially after their exile from the other Realms, but this man spoke it clearly and with a near perfect accent. But at the same time, the shock was due to a virtual stranger offering his body and soul to his service, to be his sword and shield until Loki deemed it fit to release him from his self made servitude or death claimed the man. He had no other choice really but to say:

" _Amin lava lle tu- amin._ " Loki whispered, a flash of golden light appearing between them.

When it faded a golden cuff appeared on Loki's right wrist, connecting to a strong chain that connected to a ring that sat on his middle finger. On Thor's throat a golden collar appeared and when Loki moved his hand he could see shimmer of magic that connected the collar the ring, effectively creating a leash that could be as long or short as he wish it to be and allowed Thor to always know where he was and to quickly find him.

As this happened the Warriors Three and Sif all gasped and tried to stop it, but Jalan's warning growl stilled them. But now seeing the collar, they were ready to strike the Jotun Mage down, however Lady Frigga walking into the room from the kitchens stilled them.

"Oh good, you've entered a binding contract." She smiled, bright and all knowing. "I do not need to convince you nor explain it."

"I... I..." Loki blushed.

"It is fine, young Prince." Frigga nodded. "Thor is very much aware of what he as done and knows the conditions of entering such a contract with you. He is yours until you wish him free or the Norns take him to Valhalla."

"You're fine with this!?" Thor's friends looked panicked.

"Thor started it. His highness had choice but to accept. Well he could have refused, but Thor would have pressed for him to accept." Frigga shrugged. "I only weave the Norns' Will. I have no control over what they wish to do."

The four friends did not like this, but they had no choice but to accept. Seeing that there would be no further arguments, Frigga smiled and helped Loki to his feet as Thor stood and left to get fully dressed for the day. Loki was so confused and the queen could see it so she tugged him along to her tea room, which was really a greenhouse, ordering a servant to bring breakfast to the room for everyone.

"I know you are confused, young one, but there is no need to fear, I shall explain all I can to you and I wish to know why you are here and if possible offer you aid to return home..." She told him.

"Thank you... but... Who are you, my Lady?" Loki wondered.

"I'm Frigga of Vanaheim." She told him.

"Lady Frigga." he bowed his head. "Prince Loki of Jotunheim."

She smiled brightly, she has seen him in her weavings the Runt Prince, a treasure to his people and the main catalyst in the war to come. She had seen meany things, all good and terrible. She would give him a gentle pushes, coaxing prods towards an outcome that does not involve his or her son's death. Preferably an outcome that ends with her having grandchildren to dote on and spoil...


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Breakfast was a rather strange affair, Loki later on thought as he sat in the room that Frigga had kindly offered to him. It was smaller than he was use to, but everything was made for his small size. The bed was plush, the pillows poofy and feather filled while the sheets were silken cotton blends, the quilt thick and warm. Everything was made out of wood, the bed frame, the wardrobe, the vanity and desk, the chairs and sofas too. Wooden flooring and doors, even the shelves were wood. It was very strange because everything he was use to was made of ice and crystal, the silk fabrics were only used for clothes for the royals and nobles or special occasions such as Mating Ceremonies and Funerals.

Everything else was fur or weaving the shaved fur from their flocks of Crimson Elks and plants. There was brass and bronze inlaid into most of the wooden furniture, making delicate and beautiful designs or handles for one to open and close doors, drawers and hidden compartments. The bathroom attached to his bedroom was made of stone and marble, perfectly cool and retains heat very well. He recalled Frigga telling him of Aesir plumbing that makes it possible to fill the bathtub multiple times a day, even heating the water for him without waiting for the maids to bring it and heating the water.

There was a strange crystal surface that was reflective, a mirror. It covered a good section of the wall from floor to ceiling and Loki was a bit freaked out at seeing himself unwarped and blurry. Seeing as the 'mirrors' in Jotunheim were made from clear ice, that didn't always leave a clear image. Attached to his bedroom was a balcony of wood and marble, that stretched around the whole house on both the ground and second floor where he was staying. Frigga had told him he could walk around the house on the deck without really invading another's privacy or really leaving the safety of his room.

After telling the Vanir woman of his plight, she offered him asylum within her home and ordered those who thought to protest that he was under Thor's Protection. That seemed to still any and all protests for Thor was not someone they wished to cross. Loki was not sure why. As promised the older woman explained to the best of her abilities of his situation and only vague hints of what the Norns have whispered to her in her weavings. She even had a theory of why the Dark Elves would attack his people.

Though fewer now, the Frost Giants were still a formidable force to be reckoned with, when banded together they were near unstoppable. If the Dark Elves were to take over the Nine Realms and beyond they would need to have devastated the armies of Niflheim, Asgard, Muspelheim and Jotunheim. If the four armies banded together, they could not only beat but completely subdue the Dark Elves army.

"Though logical... I can't help but feel there is more to it than simple conquest." Loki murmured, sitting on his bed, staring at his hands, on his right wrist the cuff and ring that bind him and Thor to one another and on his left a silver bangle that had six colorful gems in it. "Mother..."

Deep in the darkness of Svartalfheim, hanging from a single hook and chain was a woman, hair blacker than the darkness around her, skin like fresh milk. If her eyes were open they would be such and ethereal shade of green they looked to be alive and filled with fire. Shackled from neck to foot with ruin laced silver was the Frost King Laufey. He growled and cursed, struggling to reach the woman, who looked too still too pale for his liking.

"Shh, now..." purred a low gravelly voice, an old Elf hobbled out of the dark into the few beams of pale light. "Sleeping, sleeping... mustn't wake..."

"Your voice is annoying... Silence it." The woman suddenly spoke, voice clear and sharp like the deadliest blade. Snapping open her eyes she glared down at the Elf, her mate stilling and breathing a bit easier knowing she was not dead.

"Awake, good... Master will be pleased."

"Master can suck on a Troll's stumpy stool for all I care..." She hissed, baring teeth that did not belong in a mortal mouth.

"Ah, the Ice Queen's honeyed praises warm me so..." Chuckled another voice, cold and cruel. She looked from the tiny old Elf to the one approaching her. He was tall and she could guess he was something close to attractive if she was into the whole heart of pits and soul of emptiness thing he had going on. "I am-"

"Malekith of the Dark Elves, King of the Dark Elves and Master of the Immortals." She cut in, not at all impressed. "I've heard of you, I've also had the pleasure of ripping the spines out quite a few of your precious Immortals."

"..." He glared at her a moment before he smirked, walking over to a table and picking up the items she had on her, a lovely knife, a crude dagger, jewelry of both stone and bone, very few were metal and gems. A brush and some strips of leather and ribbons to tie her hair back, a cutely made hair pin of ivory sat there too. But the strangest item of all was a simple book.

Bound in blackish green leather, engraved with a series of whorls and knots that seemed to make of Yggdrasil. Only this one had more details, and at the top sat a woman and on the bottom another, both seeming to hold the great tree aloft. When he opened it, there was nothing in the pages except dates starting from the infancy of mortals. Just dates, no entries, no pictures, nothing.

"A strange book."

"A family heirloom. Something I keep, but never use." She told him, shrugging her shoulders.

"It is magicked."

"Your face is magicked." She grumbled out.

Laufey chuckled, his wife was not your usual being. She did not cower when one wanted her too, she mocked and jested as if a lowly barmaid, cruel and vulgar when the mood takes her. He was enslaved by her raw emotions, her untamed vitality. He also loved her softness, her sweetness, her vulnerability. He knew she was not all she seemed, and yet exactly as she appeared to be.

"Your sons have escaped, your highness..." Malekith informed, still flipping through the book, seeing the dates from the beginning to the current era and even beyond. Indeed the book made no sense, but it was spelled with powerful magic, magic he wished to know and use. "Secreted away... Well I care not for the Giants, but the Half blood Runt. Your pretty little Treasure."

At that, the green eyed woman jerked her body, growling and kicking her feet, but she cried out when the short old Elf barked sharply, the chain holding her sparking to life with electricity. It shot through her and she spasmed uncontrollably. It lasted only a moment and when it was over she hung limply, but then she twitched and began to laugh, loudly and unhinged as she rolled her head up, her eyes wide as she grinned like a demon about devour your soul.

"Again..." She grinned.

Malekith stared at her, maybe this would take longer than he planned. Looking at the book, he set it down as he turned to Laufey, the Giant straining at the chains to reach his mate who continued to laugh in that deranged manor of hers.

"Your son, Laufey-King. Do you know where he is?"

"No." Laufey growled. It was true he did not know.

"Hmm, I do." Malekith grinned. "He fled to Asgard, he will not be safe there nor welcomed. Soon he will have to flee to another realm. I have my men patrolling the natural paths between all Realms, he will be caught and brought to me."

"Ohhhhhhh, Maaaaaaaaaleeeeeeekiiiiiiiiiiiiiiith!" The crazed woman sang out, giggling now as she leaned her head on one of her arms. Only a bright green eye glowed as she grinned at him. "My son is nothing but air. You can try and capture him all you wish, but he will slip through your fingers faster than water and sand... And there are more paths hidden and unknown to by all but Chaos and Death!"

Laufey sighed, he was use to his mate's manic moods, but he worried for if he didn't calm her down soon, she'd become self destructive and he feared he would lose her. He did not relish the thought of telling their sons she was dead. His eldest sons would mourn, his youngest would throw a tantrum that would result in most of Jotunheim destroyed. His youngest truly took after his mother at times.

"Your mate is insane..." Malekith stated.

"You shocked her. She doesn't take well to it... She will not calm until I calm her." He told her. "But I'm tempted to see how far her mania truly extends. You will not kill her nor risk her death because we both know that my sons will come for their Dam."

It was well known that Jotuns were very defensive of their Dams, the ones who birthed and cared for them until they were strong enough to care for themselves. The worse thing to do is to kill one's Dam, the children no matter how old, mated or not, will hunt you to the ends of your days and not rest until you've been encased in the deadliest form of ice and shattered into particles so fine they will be last forever into the winds.

Malekith knew he could not kill the woman and yet he wanted answers. Nodding, he ordered the old Elf to drop the woman to the ground and drag her to her mate. But as soon as the woman's feet touched the ground, she stopped laughing and looked calm. He frowned as she sighed and then a moment later there was a snore.

"She- she fell asleep!?" He roared incredulously.

Laufey bit back a laugh, did he not mention that his mate's moods were manic? Well they are and she has a strange habit of falling asleep in random places and sometimes she fall asleep in weird positions.

"Fine... You will tell me what I want to know. Where are the the Infinity Stones?" Malekith demanded as he ignored the sleeping woman.

"Scattered across the Universe." Laufey stated, it was a well known fact they were, their exact locations though? Not so much.

"That is not true... I know they are somewhere near, I felt the Aether..." he snarled low.

Laufey frowned. "I do not know nor do I care. They will do nothing for my people and even I did know where to find them, why would I tell you? My sons are safe."

"No, they are not... because if I do not get my answers from you or the woman, I will get it from them and we both know that your little Treasure is called that because his beauty is not something one has seen before... and I had the pleasure of meeting him. I wonder if he is all male like his second eldest brother or has a quim like his mother... or perhaps both like you..."

Laufey growled loudly, straining once more at chains trying int vain to crush the Elf.

"You touch my son..." the woman growled low and dark, the very stones around them vibrating from the sheer volume and strength of her voice as her once green eyes glowed a deadly red. "I will carve out all of your organs and seal them into Canopic Jars and scatter them around the Universes, your head mounted over my fireplace, your fingers and toes made into a necklace as your remaining limbs roast over a fire for my hunting Pack, your cock preserved in jelly and locked in the deepest pit of the Ninth Ring of Hell. Your torso fed to Grendel... I will make it so slow it will take five solar lifetimes for me to finish..."

Malekith felt for only a moment a frisson of fear at the threat...

Back in Asgard, Loki stood before his bathroom mirror, still unnerved at the clear image of his body and face. He was small, that much was obvious with being a Runt, but he also meant his cock was small, more like a cocklet. His quim was hairless and a slightly darker shade of blue than the rest of his body. He was sealed and untouched, virgin. He did not understand the appeal of looking at a naked body, did not understand the whispered words of romantic poetry that his guards once spoke about their partners.

He didn't even understand what they meant by 'quiet as a Vola (mouse) in public, but as loud as a Jotun Beast in the bedroom.' Did this person simply not talk because he was so loud he sounded unintelligible? He didn't get what deflowering mean either, other than plucking the petals from a flower. And he really did not know what BDSM was. Apparently his mother introduced it to his people and many enjoyed such relationships.

But still looking at himself he did not see the appeal. He was too small to mate with a normal Jotun and if he tried they would end up killing him during the process. And if by some by some miracle he survived the mating, the pregnancy would not last to full term and if did, Loki would die trying to birth the baby much to big for him to carry. He kind of regrets not staying to speak to his mother about Heats and Mating. But she always got this manic grin on her face that suggested he'd be terrified or traumatized by the end of that lesson.

Shaking his head, he looked at his body once more and sighed. The others were wary of him because he looked like a Jotun, something they viewed as a monster. Even if the last war between his people and the Aesir was over 1900 years ago, which his mother said equaled 16-17 years age wise for his people. It seemed the Aesir breed hatred into their offspring where as his people speak of it yes, but teach their children to not hold animosity toward others no matter how wrong or right they were, anger just breeds more anger.

He twisted this way and that, not sure what was his 'assets' a servant once told him about. He had said that most Jotun liked a partner with long legs and a nice firm backside. Looking now he could see his legs were indeed long, shapely and toned from his training with his mother and the hunts he went on with his bothers. He was not overly muscled, but he wasn't just skin and bones either. His bum was pert, round and heart shaped. His mother once grumbled about killing anyone who touched her baby's bum. Why anyone would do it was beyond him, but then again his father cupped his mother's bum every once in a while and she always got this hungry look on her face. Maybe it was a Mates' thing?

If he recalled correctly his mother said he had a cute bubble butt, whatever that was. He could see the subtle shifts in his body that would make it impossible for one to tell if he was Male or Female. Looking at him from the back, he looked female with his trim waist, bubble butt and long legs, but his shoulders were too wide for a woman's and his chest while neither fully flat, but lacking breasts all the same, was not something found common on women either. He had long arms and soft thin hands like a female, but over all he was neither gender.

Sighing one last time, he let his robes fall as he closed his eyes and concentrated on shifting his form. He learned this trick as a child but because of the harshness of Jotunheim, his mother told him not to do it again or he'd risk sickness and death. Thinking of his mother he thought of her pale skin, how soft and light it was, warm to the touch but not overly so. The natural pink of her cheeks and the soft redness of her lips. Her green eyes and the nearly impossible to see freckles over the bridge of her nose.

As he thought this he felt his body tingle and vibrate until he opened his eyes and watched in awe as his Jotun flesh melted away like a waterfall to be replaced by the same milky white flesh of his mother, his red on red eyes turning icy green on white, his lashes looking longer and thicker as his dark hair brought out his features. He was delicate in face, sharp lines and gentle angles that fit both Male and Female faces.

His lips were a nice rosy red and a faint pink tinged his cheeks. The lines of his bloodline were gone with his blue skin and he felt sort of naked without them. He would fix it later. Looking down at his chest he saw his nipples were a very light pink and he still had the strange not flat but not breasts chest as before, Pectorals! That's what his mother called them, muscles in place of milk sacks! They weren't defined like on his brothers but they weren't soft or flabby either. His waist was still trim, his hip bones sharp and curved into a deep V that lead down to his cocklet.

Spreading his legs a little as he leaned back on the wall, suddenly too cold for his new flesh, he tilted his hips and saw that his quim was still there, but instead of flushed a soft dark blue, it was pink. Standing up straight again he looked down at his legs and was amused to see he still lacked body hair. Then again growing hair was almost impossible for Jotuns and the ones who could normally refused to cut theirs least it not grow back, only cutting it when absolutely necessary. He smiled though as he noted his toe nails and finger nails remained Jotun Black, however wiggling his toes a little he magicked them blue and his finger nails a black that changed green upon lighting.

Giggling to himself he looked up and really looked at himself. He looked like his mother, if she was a Man and not a Woman. He could pass as her twin even. He could see the beauty of his face and slender frame, but overall he still didn't see the appeal. Shrugging he bent down to pick up his clothes and frowned. His robes and loincloth were fine for Jotunheim and his other flesh. It would look most strange and it pained him to do it, but if he wished to remain hidden from Malekith, he would need Aesir clothes seeing as he adopted Aesir like flesh.

Stepping out of his bathroom he blinked seeing a bundle of clothes on the bed waiting for him already. Walking over to them, he saw a small note from Frigga and smiled. She said that her weavings told her he would need new clothes and she had brought them in for him. The woman was a kind person, but fierce, like his mother. He wondered if she would take offense if he called her Mother Frigga? Shrugging he set his things down and began to explore his new clothes. Frowning at some of it, he sighed and grabbed his loincloth and carefully wrapped it around himself once more. He would have to ask one of the women for a monthly rag at a later date.

Once he had it tied in place he willed his new clothes onto his person, seeing how they slid on and how they laced themselves shut, buttoned in other places, buckled shut in the rest. Slipping on the knee high boots and lacing them shut, he nodded. Everything was done in mostly black, with a vibrant green he loved and splashes of warm gold to accent the cut and his frame. His long hair would be a bit of a pain, but he simply shook his head, magicking it shorter and free of its braids. Happy with his new look, he decided to see how the others would react. His bracelet and the cuff still on his wrists, hidden under his long jacket and tunic sleeves.

Leaving his room, he startled a bit seeing Thor leaning on the wall. The golden haired Aesir looked up and blinked before a mild frown filled his face.

"You've changed..." He rumbled out, pushing himself off the wall and bringing a hand to cup the side of Loki's face, fingers finding their way into the shorter hair.

"I thought it best... Many are uncomfortable with my Jotun skin and it would be better to look like an Aesir should those who attacked me the first time come for me again." He told him, flushing under the disapproving gaze.

"I liked your other flesh better... but I see logic and merit in this one..." Thor sighed, shaking his head and lowering his hand. "However you wish to look, you will always be beautiful and I will always know it is you."

Loki bit his bottom lip, nervous and a bit ashamed before taking a breath and looking up at Thor, "This is not a spell or glammer... This is what I look like when I take my mother's flesh. She and I look like this it is not suitable for Jotunheim but it is here. As my Jotun flesh is suitable for Jotunheim but not here. I am not doing this because I fear others or care for what they say. If this was true, I'd never step foot out of my bedchambers back home. Besides Asgard is too hot for my Jotun flesh."

Thor blinked, staring once more at Loki and then blinked again as a wide grin spread over his face.

"Then I apologize, Civip Kethend..." He laughed, taking Loki's hand in his own and leading him on a tour of the house. "Come, you've remained in your rooms for three days now. It will not do for you to be lost in your home, no matter how long or short your stay is."

Loki smiled as he let Thor tug him along. His stomach fluttering and warmth pooled. It was strange and he wished he could talk to his mother, ask her what this feeling was and if it was normal. And if it wasn't he didn't mind, it felt nice...


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Time was a strange concept. At times it felt like he only blinked and suddenly days turned to months others, at others it felt as if seconds dragged on for ages. It's been little more than two months since his escape from Jotunheim and finding his way to Asgard, into the home of Lady Frigga of Vanaheim and left in the care of her son, Thor the Beast. It didn't take him long to learn of Thor's curse, to learn of his dual personality. And where others had coward, Loki did not. Thor reminded him of his Jotun Beast, a pup with such a temper that many feared for his safety, but his dear pup was always so tame and docile around him, but Loki didn't allow himself to assume it would always be so.

The Beast normally took over the moment the last rays of the sun vanished and retreated at the first ray of dawn. During the night it roamed the land, seeking sport and a fresh kill. Often bringing back deer and rabbit alike back, one time a wild boar. But according to Jalan, the beast roamed the whole night, but ever since Loki was brought to them, the Beast would return home and take on Thor's body, but the eyes and behavior were all the monster. Loki did not fear it nor Thor, he felt sympathy and empathy for them. Sought daily the books offered by the manor's library to see if there is a way to free Thor of his affliction, but sadly none were found.

It took the others of the house some time to become use to his presence, to see him as another person and not a monster. The children adored him as the mothers seemed to tolerate his aid and opinions. The few men were wary, but willing to teach him to fight and defend himself. They were impressed with Loki's quickness, the fluidity of his knives and the near dance like art he fights with. They found it hard to hit him at a distance where he used his magic to deflect or shield himself and up close where Loki took advantage of not only his smaller, slighter form, but also his incredible flexibility. Soon enough the Warriors Three and Lady Sif took over his training, sparring with him whenever possible.

Lady Jalan at one point fought him in a mock battle, striking and swiping at him like only a demon could and Loki kept pace with her. Lady Frigga seemed to be the only one able to best him, but then again they were both masters of the short sword, long dagger arts. Both powerful magic users and both able to think quickly on their feet. Thor never challenged him, not because he thought he was better, but because Thor could not bring himself to harm Loki even in jest. The people of Lilithorn were none the wiser to the newest addition to Jalan's Clutch. Assuming him the runaway son of a Noble, for Loki knew if they knew of his true heritage, they would attempt to murder him.

"Loki!" He startled from his thoughts and looked up from where he had been kneeling by a dry river bed, a poor trickling rivulet all that is left of the once mighty river. Looking up he saw it was Sif who called him. "Have you found something?"

"The river is still flowing, but it seems to be blocked. We'd had best follow it upstream." He told her, standing up.

His black leather and green silk clothes hugging his thin frame nicely, richly accented in gold. They looked simple and flimsy, but Lady Frigga had woven these from her finest threads, they were as good as the golden armor of the Aesir army, but lightweight and comfortable. His boots were slightly caked in mud as he, Sif and Frandal continued to walk upstream.

Hogun had received word from his kin that their village had been invaded by a large gang that had robbed them of their crops and somehow stolen the waters of the river. They begged his assistance or they faced death. Thor upon hearing their plight agreed to aid them, Frigga hesitant to allow them to go, for it could take days and none outside of the people of their small village knew of Thor's affliction, his 'illness.' But Loki promised her he would keep Thor's attentions focused on the gang, that no innocent shall fall at his hand. And thus far it has been so. But now Thor, Volstagg and Hogun are back in Hogun's village, helping where they can and preparing for another raid from the gang while Loki, Sif, and Frandal find the source of the river's sudden emptiness.

They traveled for hours when Loki stopped.

"What is it?" Frandal asked, an ever present smirk on his face, but the hand on the hilt of his rapier said otherwise.

"I feel it... the river..." Loki murmured before he took off running. Sif and Frandal had to race to keep up. He moved with speed and grace born of years running in the snow after his brothers, chasing his Pup, later on his mount. Training and hunting with his mother. He was one with the wind and earth, passing his hands over the trees and bushes, his magic pulling their memories from them. He could see the raiders cutting down trees, burning large areas of the forest down to make food gathering or game hunting near impossible for the villagers. With each new memory, the darker his frown became until he came to a sudden halt.

"Loki!" Sif cried out, stumbling to a stop as Frandal doubled over, gasping for air. "Do not run off so suddenly-"

She cut herself off upon seeing the large dam that had been built, tiny trinkles of water slipping by the wood to fall into the rivulet. The wood, clay and mud brick wall was well made, blocking off the river and damning the village to either wither away or for the people to move. Frandal slowly walked up to it, pushing on some of the logs to see how sturdy they were, none moved.

"I will give them one thing, they are quite the architechs." He told them.

"How do we get the water flowing again?" Sif wondered. "We cannot simply break the dam, it would flood the entire village."

"I have an idea, but I will require one of you to remain on this side and the other to cross over to the other. I have a feeling that the moment I begin to work on breaking down the damn, our guests will try to kill us..." Loki told them, looking out into the trees, as if he could see their audience.

Sif tensed, looking about alert and wary. She saw nothing and sensed nothing, but Loki has proven time and again that his instincts seldom failed him. She nodded as Frandal moved to the other bank while Loki carefully climbed his way to the top of the dam, balancing himself on the crude walk way at the top. The two warriors kept their eyes on the trees and bushes, but also sparing a glance or two at Loki as he moved himself to the middle of the dam. Looking at the water, it was nearly to the top and if he tried to moved a few of the logs, even with magic the water would collapse the whole dam and drown not only himself but the village as well. He was deep in thought when he noticed some fish, swimming around each other.

" _Push and pull, ebb and flow... water is always moving, always changing, my little Air. Feel it, embrace it. Move with it... Tai Chi is one of many forms where force means nothing unless you follow the ebb and flow, the push and pull. There have been masters who could bend the elements to their will, able to use nature as their sword and shield. They call it Bending... Water Bending is the first of many I will teach you. Shall we begin?"_

Loki smiled at the memory of his mother teaching him one of the many things from Midgard. Remembering that lesson, her careful instructions, he stood still, eyes closed and slowly he moved his hands back and then forward, circling his hands before him and over his head. He did this several times before the water began to move with him, flowing with him and his magic until he head a steady stream of water flowing over his head and down into the river bed. Making the rivulet became a babbling brook and then a steady stream.

Frandal and Sif watched in amazement for a moment or two before they both spun, Sif bashing her shield into a man dressed in earth tones and a cloak woven from the leaves while Frandal drove his rapier into another man's throat. Yells filled the air as a small army of 10 appeared, three archers aiming for Loki, who stopped moving the water to use his magic to animate the logs and make them break free one by one to jump into the water below and float their way down stream.

"Loki!" Sif cried when the arrows were loosed.

The young prince turned, knives of ice formed from the water in hand. He split the arrows in half as he turned back to the water, feeding it quickly into the stream below as Frandal and Sif tried to fight off the attackers. The archers fired again, recovering from the shock of Loki's speed. They would take out the young mage, not necessarily kill him, and then worry about the warriors. Loki swung his arms around himself, the water making a gel like shield that stopped the arrows barely an inch into the somewhat solid barrier. Dropping the shield, he set back to work emptying the reservoir, when it was low enough, he spun in place, a wall of ice surrounding him as more arrows were sent his way, satterng over the wall, but instead of letting the ice melt, Loki's green eyes blazed with annoyance as the ice shattered and formed varying sized shards that he shot in the direction of the archers. The ice shards flew faster than the arrows, to quick for his attackers to see. Two of them were killed the last was pinned into the tree, his arms useless from the shards.

Snorting in disdain, Loki turned his focus once more to the dam, using his magic to loosen the logs again and to send them one at a time down the stream. Frandal's shouting and Sif's own grunts telling him they were still alive and still fighting. He worked hard, moving faster, but also draining himself quicker, but he needed to get the water down low enough to avoid flooding and drowning Hogun's home village. After draining water and breaking the dam down for the third time, he checked the level of the barrier to see that it was a little more than a foot above his head if he were to stand in the water bed so he quickly dashed over to Sif's side of the river, using a ball of pure magic to break the last of the dam and allow the river to flow freely. There would be a minor elevation in the river, but nothing damaging or leaving lasting effect.

"Loki!" Sif yelled, he turned and gasped as a war hammer came crashing down on the side of his head. He collapsed to the floor, his eyes rolling as his mind was filled with white hot pain and his ears rang with a high pitched sound. His body felt heavy and light all at once, his fingers twitched sporadically, the ring chimed as the cuff glowed a low red color. It was a moment later when the heavens above were suddenly blotted out with thick heavy clouds, the skies flashing with bolts of lightning, but the usual rumble of thunder did not follow, but they could feel the vibration of it.

Frandal drove his sword into another bandit's chest, killing him before he quickly fled down river. Sif threw her shield and dropped her sword, following him. They did not want to be caught in the war path. They did not bother to take Loki for Thor would hunt them down and in the state he was in, he was liable to kill them. Thunder storms when they did not hear the thunder were the most dangers, it meant that Thor had entered his Berserker rage and would not stop till all threats were dealt with or someone, namely Frigga calmed him. Since Loki arrived, Thor has not once been in Berserker mode, let alone close to his usual level of anger.

As they raced down the sides of the river, they saw Thor flying by, not using his hammer to fly him, but actually using his own power to fly. They caught his gaze, the white on red eyes looked blood thirsty and they were glad they followed their training, but secretly felt guilty for not taking Loki. Thor ignored them, deeming them non-threatening. He was quickly approaching where his cuff's twin was crying out for help and he saw the bastards gathered around his Pretty One. Snarling low, he dropped down like a bolt of lightning in the middle of them, careful not land on Loki.

"You shall pay..." he snarled low. "How dare you pigs touch my Civip Kethend..."

"That mage is ours!" snarled a bandit, his hammer stained with a bit of blood, the color too dark to be either Frandal's or Sif's.

He's seen Loki's blood before, when the young Frost Giant had accidentally cut himself helping prepare dinner. It was a dark purplish color even in his Midgardian form, it was still too dark to be considered red. Even then he could see Loki , barely conscious, laying on the ground, small rivulets of blood running down the side of his head. He would need to make sure his Pretty One was not permanently damaged from his head injury.

Growling low, he bared his fangs as lightning flashed above them all, making his features that much more demonic as he uncurled his fists to reveal long black talons. The bandits seemed to finally realize they were not dealing with another human being like them, but a Beast in human flesh, but sadly they noticed too late for Thor roared, loud and inhuman before he flew at them, thunder roaring over head finally, deafening and echoing its master's rage...

Loki moaned weekly as he felt something cool and wet press softly to his injury. Hissing at the sting, he weakly slapped the hand away.

"...-oooo..." he whined.

"Come now, Civip Kethend..." a familiar voice rumbled lowly. "You are injured, let me see to it..."

"...-urts..." he whimpered.

"We know, Pretty One..."

Loki sighed, allowing Thor to tend him, he was still lying on the ground, surrounded by mangled corpses, blood spilled around and seeping into the earth. Loki did not need to look to know his stomach would rebel. The smell alone was making him ill. Charred flesh and copper and zinc from the ionized air around them. Thor's hands are so gentle, he melts into his touches even if he wants to bat them away because his head hurts like a mother right now.

"Don't fall asleep... head injuries are dangerous." Thor scolded softly, putting slight pressure on his wound to stem the bleeding.

He hissed around the sting, but opened his eyes, blinking way too much and rolling his eyes around until he could look at Thor properly. It felt like the blow to the head made everything scramble in his body.

"I know... still hurts..." he pouted.

Thor chuckled as he removed the cloth, washing it in the river and then wringing out the excess water, "I know it hurts, I've had my head bashed many times, either from my own carelessness or someone intent on killing me."

"... I will freeze their nether regions to an anvil and shove it off a cliff." Loki growled low.

Thor burst into booming laughter, glad that Loki's surliness had returned, meaning his pretty one was not as gravely injured as he had thought. Loki was like a kitten, sweet and affectionate at one moment, surly and cranky at another, and a bit devious and impish during the other times.

"That would be most amusing to see, however they are all dead." Thor promised, his voice darker and layered. "If not by my hands, then the hands of Mother Jalan."

"Hmph, good." Loki scoffed, shifting slightly as Thor finished cleaning his wound. "How terrible is it?"

"A small cut, but the head usually bleeds quite a bit." Thor assured him, looking at the small cut, barely the length of his pinky's nail barely the width of his nail's tip. The bleeding was sluggish now, slowing to a stop. "Give me a moment more and then we will head back to the others."

"Did Sif and Frandal flee?"

"Yes. They are safe, though I will have to grab their items before we leave." Thor murmured seeing Sif's weapons and one of Frandal's daggers.

"Good..." Loki sighed. He was not stupid he knew of how the Beast was, it would not attack those in its Clutch, but when it came to Loki, the Beast did not care if you were friend or foe, it would kill all to ensure its Pretty One was safe.

"... The bleeding has slowed enough that we can move you. Remain here." Thor told him as he stood to get the dropped weapons.

Loki closed his eyes, feeling his magic pulse under his skin, healing him of any injuries, the pulsing a bit painful where he had been struck, but over all he was not too badly harmed. He opened his eyes when he felt Thor carefully picking him up, carrying him away from the blood bath and back to the village. Sighing softly, Loki dozed off, knowing he was safe and protected...

Laufey lifted his head when he heard the old Elf leave the cell they were in, muttering about how soon his wife would break and tell its master what he wanted to know. The door slammed shut with a dull echo and the locks clicked into place. Looking to his wife, who still hung by her wrists, he could see she was breathing heavily, blood running down her pale flesh, ugly bruising littering her flesh, but she was very much alive.

"Beloved..." he spoke.

"Shh, my king... I'm well..." she smiled around bloody lips, her eyes bruised, but open now. "I've suffered worse..."

He frowned, when had his wife suffered so? Since their mating she has been adored and coddled, pampered and spoiled. Perhaps in her youth? No, her people were like his own, warriors, ruthless and cruel, but soft and loving to their families, especially children.

"Do not think on it, Laufey... You will not figure it out." She laughed softly, the sound sweet and soothing, not the mad cackling or pleas of insane squeal she had loosed during her torture. "You have been injured, husband..."

"This is nothing, Rhyg..." he told her, looking down at the shards of brass that had been embedded under his bone plating and the top layer of skin. The plates would randomly heat themselves to near unbearable temperatures before cooling off, leaving the flesh around them bruised a dark purplish black and charred slowly. "I have been trained in the art of torture since I took my vows of the Warriors."

"Hmm." She smiled, happy to hear her name on his lips. "We are quite the pair, no? Both bred to lead, taught to suffer with our people, to laugh with them, to love them and protect them. You a king, me a Seer."

He chuckled low. She looked up at the chain then, humming all the while. Suddenly she made a sound of triumph.

"Wife?" He asked.

"Husband." she stated, making him grunt annoyed at her playful evasion. "Look at your chains, see it?"

He blinked and looked at his bindings. The black chains of wrought steel and iron were magically infused and imbued to prevent the ones bound in them from escaping either via magic or pure brute strength.

"What am I seeing?" he asked her.

"The chain around your wrists, look at the 5th links." She told him. He did as told and for a moment nothing but then they shimmered, a pale barely noticeable pink color. "See it now? The chains on your legs, 13tth links."

He nodded again as he saw them, quickly spotting another shimmering links, these shimmered red however. He spotted a few more, each set glowing a different shade of color. His wife smiled when he looked at her in confusion.

"The breaks in the chains but we cannot reach them and even if we could, we do not have the power enough to break them. The chains steal out power and leave us weak." He told her, eyeing her critically.

She nodded and then he saw it, her eyes flashed gold and the breaks in his changes shattered, the lengths of black metal falling off him like limp snakes to pool around him.

"Go... quickly. Find our little ones." She ordered him. "Do so now! They'd have felt the chains breaking!"

He wanted to protest, to try and free her, but he knew better than to argue. She smiled at him, whistling low and eerily, a portal appearing at her call. Laufey turned to her and she nodded.

"Be safe, my love." she told him.

"Do not die, my mate." he then stepped through, the portal closing just as Malekith and his guards burst into the room.

"If you wish to find my husband, good luck..." she laughed darkly, eyes glowing with power as she grinned wide and dark. "For I will not allow you to capture my family, not while I still draw breath."

"That can be easily remedied, my lady..." Malekith told her.

"Indeed it could, in fact allow me to do it for you..." with that they gasped as she bite off her tongue and began to choke on her own blood. The violent twitching of her body caused the chain suspending her to activate and increasing amounts of electricity began to speed her death along.

It took all of five minutes for the woman to die, very much in pain and aware of it until the end. When she was limp and dead, Malekith cursed. Ordering her corpse to be removed and dumped on Midgard, he left the room, heading for his war room. He knew where Loki and his brothers were, and he would collect the Hybrid, but wanted the Stones first. He would use them to rule over all creation and with the powerful Jotun Prince at his side, as his Queen, he would be unstoppable, their children would solidify his immortality to the end of time. Walking into the room he smirked darkly as he spoke:

"Commander Schari of the Chitauri, I have a mission for you..."

Loki had been sleeping peacefully in his bed roll within Hogun's childhood home when he shot up with a scream worthy of a banshee. The scream woke the others, Thor racing into the house in his beast form, from his nightly run. But Loki did not see him nor hear the others asking him what was wrong, he only continued to scream, wailing as if he were dying and then as suddenly as it had started, it stopped and he was left to collapse into Thor's large frame, sobbing as he clutched the bracelet his mother had given him.

 _"Atara, re... re naa wanwa..."_ He moaned weakly, sobbing as he could no longer feel his tie to his mother's magic, she was gone...


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

It was noon by the time Loki left his bed roll, no one blamed him or dared ask what had caused him to scream the way he had the night before. Loki barely nibbled on bread, pale and wan, eyes red from crying, mild bruising from lack of sleep clinging to the underside of his eyes, hair messy and he was still in his night shirt and pants. Thor did not force him to do anything, simply petting his head, occasionally whispering in the Jotun's native tongue, the words too soft for them to hear, but it seemed to slowly ease some of the sorrow that seemed to cling to their normally bright and mischievous Frost Prince.

Sif packed their belongings as Volstagg and Frandal helped repair some of the damages done to the houses while Hogun and a few others went to see to the fields. By the time everything was done, Thor leaving every once in while to help where he could, the five friends bid goodbye to Hugun's friends and family before they used the teleport spell Frigga had given them to return home. Upon landing, Frigga was waiting for them and without anyone saying a word she took Loki into her arms where for the second time in less than 24hrs he broke down into heart-wrenching sobs.

No one knew what to say or how to comfort, him so they left him alone. For weeks, Loki ate very little, slept even less, but then one day the household awoke early to the scent of the morning meal, but it was not the usual affair that was made, the air was warmer, richer with spices that were new and enticing. Jalan bolted up from her pile of gold, Frigga slowly crawling out of her comfy nest of furs and pillows, both very confused as to who was cooking seeing as Frigga was just getting up and none of the maids cooked so early in the morning. Everyone slowly crept from their rooms, wondering who was cooking and what it was that they were making, it smelt heavenly.

When they got down stairs, Thor was still in his Beast form, laying lazily in the doorway to the kitchen. That only meant that it was Loki who was cooking and seeing Thor there, they did not dare to peek into the kitchen. Having no other choice than to get ready for the day, they all trudged back up to their rooms. Loki hummed as he carefully stirred the thick creamy potato porridge, checking on the bread in the brick oven slowly rising and browning into a lovely golden crust. He had Thor bring him back a young black boar, gut and clean it before Loki carefully placed it onto a spit and spelled it to spin slowly over the flames throughout the night, rubbing it with ground spices: salt, freshly cracked black peppercorns, thyme, rosemary and basil. A honey glaze coated it, but that was mixed with some spices he summoned a shadow to fetch from Earth, saffron, ginger and dried jalapenos, all grounded into fine powder to mix with the honey. He made jasmine rice, with freshly picked jasmines, boiled water for tea which he then left to cool and steep for a few hours, adding fresh sugar cane sticks and lemon peels to it and flash froze it to once more slowly thaw over the next couple of hours.

All the while as he cooked, he let his mind wander to his childhood, barely taller than his mother's knee, standing on his tippy toes to try and see what it was his mother was making, what smelt so wonderful! How his mother would magic him a tall stool to sit on with a cute little apron to wear as he got to help her by kneading fresh bread dough, carefully sorting out the beans, later on as he got bigger, cutting up fresh vegetables, slicing raw meats into specific cuts or poking holes into the meat to stuff carefully made balls of herbs and spices. He learned all he could by helping her, they would be filthy by the time the meal was ready and always smiling like they won a war. He could see his father's fondly exasperated face as his brothers would laugh and fluff his hair to get clouds of spices and flower out of his hair.

Sometimes when they were cooking together his mother would teach him songs she's learned as a child, from her early years of traveling all over Midgard, folk songs, lullabies, which now that he thought of them were very disturbing, songs of love, songs of sadness or ballads of war. He couldn't help but start humming as he finished cooking, pulling the bread from the oven to cool and sit as he put in a tray of stuffed rolls into the oven to cook. The boar was ready, he dispelled the spit and with a flash of his eyes, the boar fell to pieces on a large serving platter, all the meat, bits of the fat and chard skin with it, the rest left for the dogs to enjoy. Walking over to where he where he had the bread sitting, he sliced it into even cuts and lightly brushed them with an herbed butter and carefully piled them with the pulled meat and crisp lettuce and sliced tomatoes.

By the time he was done with everything, it was about the regular time for everyone to be up. Thor seemed to snap awake then, giving a wide jaw cracking yawn as he shook himself out of his beast form and into a man. Loki blushed hotly seeing the naked man, all glorious golden skin and thick muscles, not an inch of fat, fading scars decorating his flesh and what a glorious cock the man had. Loki felt his quim moisten, the strange heat that followed seemed to roar bright and threatening to burn him from the inside out. Thor turned, unaware of the condition he left his poor charge in, allowing the Jotun Prince to get an eyeful of that wondrously muscled ass.

Loki now understood what his mother meant by she hated when his father walked away, but loved to see him go... She had an obsession with his father's backside, now he knew what she meant. He had this itching urge to run up to Thor and smack one of those firm cheeks. Thankfully Thor was gone when Loki let out a shrill squeal and collapsed to his knees, a hand pressed to his bleeding nose as he panted and tried to fight of the dizziness threatening to make him pass out. Spelling the rest of breakfast to finish itself, he grabbed a clean rag, wet it with cold water and held it to his face, willing it to stop blushing, for these... these perverted thoughts to leave his mind, but it seemed the Norns wanted him to suffer more for even with his eyes closed, hidden behind the island counter, he could see Thor's naked body clearly. If Thor were a Jotun... Loki would have to beat others away with a pole to keep them from claiming his Thunderer!

Gasping, he jumped up, looking shocked by the thought, but as he had jumped up, he banged his head on the underside of the counter ledge, giving himself a nice little bump. He hissed and grumbled at the counter like it just stole his favorite pudding.

"Loki?" Thor's voice could be heard and Loki jumped up again, blushing brightly as he saw the man fully clothed, hair still damp from a quick rinse. "Are you alright? I smell blood."

"I'm fine!" He squeaked, hiding the bloody rag behind his back. "Just a mild nosebleed! Nothing serious!"

Thor gave him a look, but then he shrugged, "Your rolls are burning."

Loki let out a scream and ran to pull the rolls out, they were darker than he wanted them, but after a quick poke of a thin twig to check the insides, he was glad they were well cooked. Once everything was ready, he asked Thor to help him carry everything to the dining room. He was a bit shocked to see everyone already waiting for the meal, table set and all. Setting out the platters, it took the two three trips to get everything on the table. Once done, Loki began to serve everyone and gave the okay to begin eating. Everyone took a cautionary bite, not worried about being poisoned, but wary of the food smelling heavenly only to taste terrible, but that was not the case. Flavors exploded over their pallets and made their mouths water.

"Oh my word!"

"Mother did you try this?!"

"Loki, please show me your secrets!"

"Wow, this is better than anything I could ever make... I don't know if I should be jealous or bow to a master?"

Loki blushed as everyone gushed and flattered him, he glanced up at Frigga who was staring at her plate, a blank look on her face. Jalan was poking at one of the stuffed rolls as Thor blinked at his own plate.

"I- is this not to your liking?" he mumbled, making everyone pause to stare at three who had yet to try the wonderful meal.

"No, it's not that... Just... where did you learn to cook? I thought Jotuns avoided flames like the plague?" Frigga wondered.

"Oh! Oh, no we enjoy warmth, and a nice fire in the hearth! And my... my Atara. Ever since I could remember she was always in the kitchen, cooking and singing... I would come into the kitchens and try to see what it she was making, try to stand on my toes or climb the cupboards until she would magic a stool for me to sit upon and watch, later one an apron to help cook. As I grew, I learned all her recipes and secrets... Atara was a wonderful cook and I felt I've mourned her passing enough and decided to celebrate the gifts she gave me by making a meal for my new family..." Loki admitted, sniffling softly as he tried yet again to feel his mother's magic, but where the tingling cool flow of magic should be completing their link, there was only emptiness.

"I'm sorry." Frigga placed a hand on his hand and he smiled softly.

"You need not worry. I'm sure if she were to see me like this, she'd grab my ear and drag me to the stream and throw me in, demanding I stop moping about and being a lazy bag of bones. She was something else. Father said she was not always wrapped well in the head, she claimed that she was never boring." Loki laughed.

"She sounded like an interesting being." Jalan commented, grabbing a roll and biting into it, blinking in surprise. She did not eat human food often, it was normally bland or poorly made, besides she preferred raw meat fresh from the kill, but if Loki cooked more often, she would not be opposed to eating what he gives her, if only to sample. Frigga tried the porridge and was in love with the creaminess. Thor still did not touch his food, merely watching Loki poke at his food a moment before sitting up with a bright smile, grabbing the pulled boar sandwich and dunk it into his bowl of porridge and take a hearty bite, smiling even as tears sprung to his eyes.

But he continued to eat, smiling and laughing even as he cried at the reminder of the most beloved person in his life. When Loki was halfway through his meal, Thor began to eat finally and purred low in pleasure, the meal was wonderful, the flavors layered and savory, blending nicely without overpowering one another or the pallet. The rolls were full of fruits or vegetables and eggs, the iced tea was refreshing and sweet, with a nice zing from the lemon peels. By the time the meal was over, there was hardly any left over, but still Loki was paid more compliments, playful offers of marriage if he cooked like this daily. Frigga, when she was full to burst declared a lazy day for all and ordered everyone to the living room, magicking everything to clean themselves up and to pack away the left overs to later.

Once everyone was sitting in the living room, she asked Loki to share more stories of his mother and his family. And like that they spent the day learning of the Royal Jotun family and all the shenanigans they got into on a daily basis. Stories of his mother's temper causing the most terrifying of warlords and kings to cower like pups, tales of his brothers and him romping around in the vast tundras of their home, 'adventuring.' Regaling them with side splitting stories of his father going from the terrifying Warrior King to a panicked and worried mess whenever Loki and his brothers would vanish for an adventure, forgetting to tell someone where they were going. How his father sent out the whole army of Jotunheim one time when the three boys became lost in a snowstorm.

How he fretted and coddled them when they were found and brought safely home where as Loki's mother yelled and scolded them, grounding them for a month for scaring her to near death. He spoke of stories his mother told him, war stories from his father and made up tales his brothers would tell him before bed. He missed his father and his brothers and hoped they were all safe, hoped he would one day find them and try to be whole again, though they will always be missing that spot in the center where his mother held them all together...

Laufey stepped out of the other end of the portal into a simple village of clay homes and farmlands, the people all of various shapes and colors stopped to see him. He looked down at his hands as he felt the tingle of magic. His blue flesh being replaced with a warm tan, his great size shrinking to nearly half his full height, still a very tall man, but not obviously so. He felt the tickle of hair and grabbed the locks to see they were deep metal gray and black. He was not sure what his color his eyes were, but he knew they would no longer be the familiar red on red he was use to seeing, even his groin felt strange, but he would not check here before many strangers.

"Hail, Lord Ice King, mate of the Drifter, Lady Ryilia Nubia." A man greeted him. "I am Lady Nubia's Man in waiting, Glade. I shall serve you as I have my lady. Come you must be exhausted and you will need those wounds treated."

Laufey followed the fairly tall man, his snow white hair blinding in the sun, his eyes when he had been looking at him were a soft amethyst purple, he also noted Elf like ears on the man but did not question it. They walked through the village, the others bowing as they passed until came to large clay house with a crystal roof that reflected like a rainbow in the sun. Stepping inside it was shockingly cool, but bright. The man led him through the rooms to the second floor and opened a door, bowing his head low as he gestured for Laufey to step inside. Laufey did so and gasped.

"Who- who are you!?"

"I have many names, much like your wife, but if you must call me something, call me Serene, it means Star." the woman said looking at him, turning from where she was sitting on the bed. "There is something we need to discuss, Laufey-King: your wife and your youngest child."


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

They say time heals all wounds. If you asked Loki if this was true, he wouldn't give you his answer. But for those in the Clutch, they could see that slowly, bit by bit that Loki was slowly moving on from his mourning. They have all asked Lady Frigga at one point or another if Loki's mother was truly dead, but even the Golden Queen was not privy to all of the Norn's weavings. When she looked in on her loom and on the Loom of Fate, the same jaded green thread that represented Loki's mother, the Lady Rhyg, it simply vanished. Not cut, yanked from place or absorbed by another thread, simply gone. Whether this meant she was truly dead and was stricken from history or, and here Frigga told them all to never speak of this to Loki, it might mean on a very slim chance she was alive and in hiding.

Do not get her wrong, Frigga would love to give some happy news to the boy, but it was too cruel to tell him that she has tried searching for his mother using the Loom only to discover that her thread had vanished. Loki already thought she was dead for he could not feel his connection to her, it would be cruel to tell him that she might be alive, simply hiding. Though it would make sense, the reaction Loki had had the night h felt her connection vanish, it did not bode well for them to attempt to find her alive. But still, the Loom remained silent, her own loom humming as she threaded reds, golds silvers and greens together, blues and purples, pinks and yellows.

A picture slowly forming with each pass of her thread and a push of the bar. A meadow of flowers, a stream of water, tall trees and there in the heart saw her son and Loki, looking for all the world content and happy. She kept going and below the meadow was Loki and Thor at night, Thor's monstrous form coiled around his sleeping ward, alert and vigilant, but Loki looked larger, almost-

She stepped back from her loom and blinked her eyes, wonder and almost praying the scene, half finished would change. But when it did nothing to change and her mind assured her she was not seeing things, she dared to sit back down and finish. There, Loki pregnant and Thor sitting guard. But who's baby was it? She made to weave more, but realized she was out of thread. This meant the Norns did not wish her to see more. So she had no choice but to bind the threads and cut the piece from the loom, folding it carefully and locking it in a small trunk she kept many of her important weavings in. When she set the item down, Jalan walked up to her in her naked/liquid gold glory.

"Something troubles you, my mate..." She said, her lips teasing on the back of Frigga's neck.

"Many things trouble me. Which one do you wish to pry into?" Frigga huffed, it was quite true, she was always annoyed about something, particularly her... wife. Though over the years her hate has all but vanished, there will always be that small petty corner of her heart, that cruel dark spot in her mind that reminded her that her Wife ruined not only her happy marriage, but also the life of her son. And the same could be said about Jalan. The golden dragon had lived a very long time, while not always a peaceful life, it was one she enjoyed surrounded by her many hatchlings.

But then glory seeking fools happened upon them, and every time she would escape, one or two of her children were killed. It was not until Odin had come that the madness had set in for the golden Demoness. Odin from the time he was no longer a boy, but not quite a man, has hunted her and her children, killing them off and either mounting their corpses for all to see or harvest them for trophies. It was not until Odin AllFather had stolen her eggs that she finally snapped. Years of stress, poor diets and grieving had taken their toll. She had more and more miscarriages than she dared to count, what babies survived were sickly, deformed and ugly, but she wouldn't kill them because they were all she had left. Secreting them away, hiding them from those who mean to do them harm.

Odin had found her cave, entered when she had gone to see her son, Grendal, and stole her latest clutch. That was fine, she would simply steal them back and leave, but when she arrived at the palace, intent on taking her clutch back. She saw the eggs shattered on the ground, the viscous goo that fed the babes until they were ready to hatch a ghastly orange gold as the malformed babes laid dead. Only one egg was still in tact, but a mage had preformed a spell on it to kill the child inside without breaking the golden shell. It was to be a present for the infant prince!

Horrified and in a blind rage, Jalan had attacked, but because Thor was an innocent babe, she couldn't bring herself to kill him. A child is born free of the sins of their sires after all. Why should she punish one that had done her no harm? And then she heard the Queen's screaming, her eyes wide with horror and fear for her babe, struggling to reach for the tiny thing, so soft and so easily broken. Her mate, Odin stood stiffly, almost indifferent and that brought the rage back. So instead of killing the child, she made it like her dear Grendal, a hybrid. A few drops of her blood, and a handful of archaic words and the deed was done.

Jalan may not act it, but some times, just sometimes she wished to rip out her mate's heart and give it to the bastard that killed her children. Other times, she wished she fed the infant Thor to Grendal... But no. She has grown to love her Golden Mate, and her precious Storm Maker, she has a whole Clutch to guard and love, even a pretty Gem of Ice and Frost to proudly display to the other Dragons and Demons. But in the end neither female is deluded or addled to know that they are mated out of convenience and mutual hate and love.

"The Norns are mean." Jalan huffed suddenly coming out of her dark thoughts. "And you still hate me..."

"We hate one another. You hate me because my former husband murdered your children, stole them and gifted them to my son. I detest you for cursing him, making him into that thing." She growls low, eyes flashing with power.

"Mmm, you are delicious when you are furious..." Jalan growled, tackling the Vanir woman to their bed and in moments had her naked, serpentine tongue buried into her folds as the woman struggled to free herself, but at the same time grinds her dampening cunt into the Demoness face. "It is best to take care of this hate now before we are to join our children, yes?"

"Shut up, you daft Demon and finish what you have started!" Frigga growled. Flushed with anger and arousal, she nearly crushed Jalan's head with her thighs, pulling her head back toward her quim.

Jalan chuckled as she set back to work...

Thor's head popped up from its place on Loki's lap and he made a groan of disgust. Loki blinked as he saw the golden man stand up, opening the windows wide before coming back to lay down, burying his head into the cushions behind Loki's back.

"Thor?"

"Mother and Mother Jalan are fucking." He grunted out.

Loki's cheeks enflamed. He knew what fucking was, some of the Jotuns his brothers hung out with, when not training, spoke of it. Pleasure and pain, the looks and the bruises one gets from fucking. He didn't know however what lead to it or how it was done, that was something his family did not want him knowing until before his first heat. His father seemed to grow insane with worry and rage at the mere thought of Loki taking a mate one day let alone Loki having his first heat. His mother... she would laugh and tell him that she would not care as long as he was happy, but she would need to test... his would be mate.

It still hurt to think of his mother, but with each new day that dawns, the ache dulls a little more, his heart bleeds less, his tears fall even lesser. Pulling from his thoughts, he looked down at Thor, who seemed content smelling the sofa.

"Thor... I wish to go to the BiFrost... I would like to see it." He told him.

"No, Loki... mother, both my mothers, are adamant that none of us should go there. It is too close to my bastard of a father." Thor growled out, dark and menacing.

"Oh..." Loki deflated, but then Thor sat up.

"However if you magic us to look like strangers, we'll be able to go to the beach closest to the BiFrost. Mother tells me the Gate Keeper sees and knows all. It would not do to give him reason to speak to us." Thor amended.

Loki blinked and then smiled, "Oh course. Perhaps after we'll find a natural path to walk to another realm and perhaps hunt?" Thor grinned brightly at this, he enjoyed hunts, it was something him and his Beast both loved. The thrill of a chase, the blurring sights and blending scents! And don't get him started on the look of terror on his prey's face, that is as long as the prey was not family or his precious Loki.

Agreeing to the terms, Thor got up and grabbed a coin purse, a couple of cloaks and grabbed a small satchel and took bread and cheese from the kitchen with a few apples and a water skin. Happy with the items, he came back and Loki was not the Loki he knew. In his pretty one's place was a woman with wavy black hair, cropped short with one green eye and one blue, his skin was darker, still white, but almost honeyed cream. Her chest was not too small but neither was it too large. Her waist was trim and she had a firm ass, a lovely pair of legs and Thor couldn't help but love his little Jotun princess more.

"Such a pretty woman." He growled.

"Hmm, I had to change it a little..." Loki admitted, his voice now a gentle coo of a soft spoken woman.

"I know it is still painful, Civip Kethend, but it will eventually stop hurting so terribly." Thor promised.

"Forgive me if I do not believe you quite yet." Loki sighed, looking down at her dainty hands.

Thor did not take offense, he himself has not suffered such a loss, and therefore did not understand the ache in his beloved Treasure's heart. Loki placed his hands on Thor's face and Thor purred feeing the gentle tendrils of magic snack over his skin. Loki watched as the golden hair became a deep rich brown, hints of red and gold here and there if the light hit it just right, his beard thick and nearly black from how dark his hair was. His skin was paler, almost a soft wheat gold, and when he opened his eyes they were storm gray.

"What shall be our names?" Thor wondered, looking at his reflection in a mirror.

"I like Eric." Loki told him. "Hmm, you look like a Woodsman."

"And I find myself enjoying the name Snow, you look like a Winter Spirit made flesh." Loki snorted delicately, amused as she waved her hands and their clothes changed to those belong to a pair of Woodsmen, or rather a Woodsman and his wife. "Come husband we have far to travel."

"As you wish, wife..." Thor purred leading his pretty one out the door...

Thor guided their horse to a stop on the edge of the water, the BiFrost was large and long, stretching to the end of the Isle that was Asgard where the waters cascaded into space. The bridge was as Loki had imagined and more! Multitudes of colors, swirling and mixing within the thick crystal of the bridge that leads to a large golden Hub. A sphere like dome with a pyramid shaped nozzle pointing up. But then the dome began to move, rotating until it was pointing to Vanaheim and in moments the dome began to spin at dizzying speeds, the nozzle shooting out the rainbow beam. It took mere seconds before it was over and Loki was left awed.

"Wonderful... But why did it suddenly-?"

"Hogun informed me that the leaders from his village would be coming this week to speak with the AllFather. They must be arriving right now. So we have very good timing then. Do you wish to linger more?"

"No, we best get going, I did promise you a hunt." Loki smiled, her cute little smile from behind Thor on the strong steed's back.

"Yes... which way is the nearest path?"

"Hmm..." Loki closed her eyes and sent out pulses of magic, looking for a natural flow. It took maybe ten minutes, but she found one not far away.

"Head northeast, about 10-15 minutes away is a large Oak Tree that is the portal."

"Alright." Thor turned them and headed off into the woods, unaware of the figure standing on the bridge, watching them curiously...

When the pair arrived at the tree, Thor let out an impressed whistle. The tree stood like a mountain, both tall and wide, its trees reaching not only to the heaves but out to all corners of the earth. Loki felt just as awed because the tree's roots pulsed under their feet. Slow and steady, rhythmic like lazy waves on the beach. But that is not what had her awed, no it was the familiar warmth, the comforting anchor holding him tethered.

"Atara..." Loki whispered, feeling her eyes watering, a brilliant smile spreading so wide it looked painful.

"What?" Thor looked at her.

"Mother's energy... She said that for as long as she could remember her power came from Oaks, or nature in general, but in her tribe, the Oak Tree is the closest one they have to Yggdrasil. She told me how their spiritual leaders call it a Nemeton. It is supposedly the center of their world, where the Telluric Currents cross and meet. However there are several places where it happens. But one can sync their magic with the Telluric Currents, gaining more power to feed back into the earth or to corrupt it. Her spirit leader is known as a Druid. Peaceful people, powerful magic, but kind and simple folk. If a Druid becomes evil they call it a Durach. Mother says it rarely happens but in her life time alone, only three known Druids became Durachs. One killed by a pack of werewolves, another burned at the stake for murdering children to make himself immortally young and the last was hunted and killed by mother. She said they were once a good friend who gave into temptation, envy and greed. But strangely when she dealt the killing blow, she felt nothing for the poor creature they became, not even the least bit remorseful at who they use to be." Loki spoke dazedly, walking around said tree, her hand touching its bark, feeling the energy flow into her, memories or visions warring for attention.

"But they were a good friend..."

"Yes, but I don't know what mother felt or thought seeing as it happened before I was born, but she said sometimes one does not feel anything at that moment or ever, others you feel it like you are being drowned and stabbed over and over again. She told me that she was considered neither a good person or bad one, that she simply did what was needed at that time. Killing a former friend had been the right thing to do and from what I understood of her, she has never regretted it." Loki shrugged, coming full circle. "It's strange really, even though she is gone, I'm still learning from her... that places like this still hold her power and I can feel it ghosting on our bond... I sometimes wake, half expecting to be home in my bed, mother sitting beside me, playing with my hair as I slowly awaken. Or I dream of her, laughing as she teaches me a new spell or a tells me a new story. Father busy with documents, my brothers either cleaning a kill or cleaning their weapons, listening intently as well."

"It's good to remember, Loki, better the good memories rather than the bad ones. And with each visit, the pain while still fresh will lessen." Thor took her hand, kissing her knuckles before he grinned. "Now then, has your mother taught you to walk the Natural paths?"

"How did you think I got here?" Loki huffed, haughty and a bite to her words, but a smile of glee tugging at his lips. "Come, you oaf, let us see where this will take us."

Thor laughed as Loki placed her hand on the tree once more, a beam of light splitting it in half. Thor grabbed Loki's hand tight as they stepped in, but unlike the other path where there was a tunnel and multiple paths, the moment they stepped in, they were coming out again in a new place, still forest like and even the Path's entrance was still an Oak, this this Oak looked older, the branches more heavy with age, but still reaching out to the ends of the earth and to the sky.

The air was lighter, though not nearly as clean smelling, the earth under their boots was not nearly as soft. There were strange sounds filling the air around them, loud and terrible. Thor growled low as he searched for the unseen threat, sniffing the air and coughing when horrible smelling smoke filled his nose.

"Thor!?" Loki cried, rubbing his back as she looked about and then suddenly a man in bright orange jacket came out of the bushes, an equally as bright yellow helmet on his head. He looked at the strangely dressed pair and frowned.

"The hell you doing here?! This is a construction sight! Fuck off you stupid loverbirds!" He yelled rudely.

Loki balked, hand shooting up to stop Thor from attacking the man for his rudeness. Thor snarled low, baring his human teeth at the man as he glared hims down.

"What's wrong Fido? Hard of hearing?" The man grunted.

Loki almost dropped her hand, but she calmly and with a dark twisted smile stepped forward.

"Excuse me, but I believe you are on private property." She told him, her magic seeping into the earth and bringing her memories. "Yes, these lands belong to a Ms. Nubia. Does she know you are on her lands, deforesting her private property?"

"Who the hell is that and who the fuck are you?"

"My name is Loki and she is the woman who paid for your wife's therapy, who's money got you that nice fancy house for you and your family... and I'm quite sure she would be very displeased if I were to call her office about not only you illegally building on her lands, but also being rude to her guests." Loki promised, his magic seeping into the man's memories and seeing his thoughts.

The man paled and then flushed, but still he pulled out a radio and began speaking into it.

"Hey, this is Head Hancho, here. I got two civillians walking the nature trails. They say this is part of Nubia's territory. We cannot, I repeat, cannot build on this land. Over."

There was a moment before chatter came back and after a few moments the man turned off the radio.

"Sorry about this ma'am and when you see Ms. Nubia, tell her I'm sorry for this. I need to call Mr. Hammer and tell him that he will need a new spot for his weapons factory and office building." the man told them and left. Loki waited a few minutes more before smirking even more darkly.

"Thor... Be a dear and... motivate them to not linger? Hmm?" She smiled.

Thor dropped to all fours, the transition between forms almost seamless before he took off into the woods. As she waited, she felt more into the earth, this Nubia woman was like his mother, a Keeper of balance. She owned this forest and another 400 acres of land where no one was allowed to hunt, build or anything at all without her permission. The images of the woman were blurry at best, completely blotted at the worst, but she seemed to be a powerful woman, in terms of monetary gain and in magical terms as well.

Suddenly terrified screams echoed all around followed by Thor's mighty roar. After that it was a few short minutes of utter chaos and the sound squealing wheels peeling away from the area, hopefully never to return. Thor tromped back, a torn vest in his jaws. He looked so proud as Loki giggled into her hands, shaking her head.

"Brute." she huffed at him, making him chuff a laugh.

Turning back into a man, he rolled his neck and smirked down at her.

"I did not kill them, simply scared them. Though I might have given the rude one a nice scar as reminder of his poor manners." Thor shrugged, looking for the world as if he had done nothing wrong or even seemingly terrible.

"Idiot." Loki shook her head before they picked a random direction and began walking. "Judging by the man we saw and the noises we heard-"

"They fled into metal contraptions that looked like horseless drawn chariots and coaches." Thor cut in.

"Hmm, there is only one place that comes to mind and that is Midgard!" Loki brightened up. "This is the home mother grew up in... thought back when she was born, none of those things you saw were around. In fact she told me that her people used leaves to clean their private areas because they did not have outhouses."

Thor stared, horrified and mildly amused as Loki giggled, saying something about her mother using snow once to clean her self and nearly gave her bottom frostbite. Thor snorted a laugh, coughing a moment to stop, but the way Loki had all but fell over laughing, he couldn't help but snort and howl with laughter too. That must've been a sight and gods does he know who the poor woman felt, but hey desperate times call for desperate measures! But still to be born in a time without plumbing? That must've been a nightmare and a half.

But still they should explore Midgard for a while, see what has changed, perhaps find distant, very distant relatives of Loki's while they were at it. As they walked off, Loki spoke of the plants, silly stories his mother told him and more. Thor watched and listened intently, glad his beautiful Civip Kethend was acting much more lively now, though he knew there would always be that shadow of loss in those eyes, he was glad they were bright with happiness and even a bit of eager joy.

They had left the forest after an hour's walk and were about to cross a dirt road when a strange sound suddenly blared out. Thor and Loki looked up in shock before suddenly Thor was struck.

"Holy guacamole, Jane! You just ran someone over!"


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Scharri stood before his army, watching as legions upon legions of Chitauri warriors and their beasts were marched onto their ships, smaller air crafts and the like sorted and locked in for the long travel. Once his people were ready, he would give The Other the command to contact their slave to begin the first phase of their invasion...

Meanwhile back on Earth, Loki was fretting about as Thor lay several feet from where he had been, bloodied and banged up. The strange chariot opened up and out came two women. Both had brown hair, one had brown eyes like fresh soil and the other had light hazel green eyes. Both were pale and around what he would assume was average height for a Midgardian. One wore glasses and bother were dressed odd in his opinion. But he was not paying too much attention to them as he hurried over to Thor's side, checking for life and relieved to feel Thor's breath on his fingers and hear his heart in his chest.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry!" One woman said, the one he assumed was called Jane. "Darcy! Call an ambulance!"

"Uh, we're in the middle of nowhere, Jane, by the time one shows up the guy would be dead." Darcy snarked.

"JUST DO IT!" Jane snapped, annoyed.

"No need..." Thor groaned out, slowly rolling over and with Loki's help sat up. "I am not too badly hurt..."

"Holy shit..." both women gaped as the man then stood up, dusting himself off and rolling his neck and shoulders to make them crack, the tension leaving them making him sigh happily.

"Thor you should lie still!" Loki scolded, standing up with the man and holding his hand over his face, a gentle blue glow around it as a cool healing spell was called upon.

Thor purred at the feel of the cool magic, like taking a dip in the pond on a hot summer day. His injuries, while minor and light, were bathed in coolness before vanishing away when Loki's hand moved away from them. Once all his injuries were healed, Loki summoned a ball of water over Thor's head and dropped it rather unceremoniously on him, a scowl firm on his lips as Thor yelped and shook the water off.

"I do not care if you are the strongest being in the Universe! Never ever move again after being injured! We do not know what becomes of us on this Realm! Mother said one that the Gods of Midgard tend to make visiting Gods mortal or Demigod like meaning we are susceptible to major injury and death!"

"Forgive me, Civip Kethend... I was careless." Thor bowed his head, looking contrite and even a little petulant at the scolding, but took it anyway.

"Forgiven, but never again!" Loki pointed a finger at him, and then he blinked and burst into laughter. "Oh dear gods, I've become my mother!"

Thor blinked and then smiled, happy to see his beloved Treasure's laughter.

"Excuse us..." Jane spoke up, reminding them that they were still there.

"Yes, my lady?" Thor looked at her and thought she was lovely, but not as lovely as Loki, who was giggling softly now, wiping tears from his eyes as he grinned wide.

"We should get you to a hospital, I just hit you with my Trailer you know..."

"But I've been healed you saw it yourselves." Thor pointed out.

"Yes, and I'm still trying to figure out how you preformed that trick because there is no such thing as magic." Jane huffed out, waving her hand in a dismissive way.

"Look, it will make us feel better about hitting you if you got looked at by a doctor. And trust me, Jane's not gonna stop until you do. Besides what are you doing out here?" Darcy asked. "This property belongs to Ms. Nubia. She's vanished on some trip and allows us to use her facilities to further our research."

"We were walking through the forest and came upon some men beginning construction." Loki told them.

"What?!" Jane gasped. "I know for a fact that unless Ms. Nubia is here in the flesh to supervise the construction there shouldn't be any! Who did they work for?"

"I believe someone called Hammer?"

"... Shit... Darcy I need to call Eric." Jane told her, running along the strange chariot and opening a door to go inside.

"Dr. Eric Selvig is Jane's colleague in their research. Something about Einstein Bridges. I'm just an inter, not a paid one, but still I actually enjoy their work, when Jane's not boring me to death is science jargon." Darcy smiled. "He's with us on this trip because he got asked to do something else for a guy called Nick Fury. Never met him, but hear he's something of a decent guy if nothing else. Also heard he is as cuddly as a cactus."

Loki chuckled, he's heard that expression before from his mother, though she had said she'd gotten drunk enough to hug one, not her brightest moment. But as they stood waiting for Jane to reappear, Loki scanned over the area with a Locator spell, looking for dangers or anything out of the ordinary. Thor was doing the same with his heightened senses all the while talking to Darcy who was poking at where his injuries had been. Finding nothing, Loki asked Darcy about the Era they were in and very curious about the vast changes since his mother had last been home. It was about 10 minutes later that Jane came back out, cellphone in hand and walked up to the three of them.

"I'm not kidding Eric! Look here, talk to them yourself!" She thrust the phone then into Thor's hand. The man blinked at it before holding it as he had seen her do and spoke.

"Hello?" He wondered.

"Hello? Are you this Thor guy Jane's going on about?" a voice answered back.

"What in the Norn's name!?" Thor pulled the phone away from himself as he looked it over.

"Thor..." Loki sighed, taking the phone from him and placing it to his hear. "Greetings Dr. Selvig, I am Loki son of Laufey-"

"Wait... I thought Loki was Odin's son?" The man asked, confused.

"My father is the Ice King Laufey of Jotunheim. I am Jotun, not Aesir." Loki assured him. "My mother is the Lady Rhyg of Midgard."

"I though your mother was Fárbauti?" Selvig sounded suspicious.

"I do not know how you know who my parents are, but all me to correct you yet again. I am the third born son of Laufey- King, only son of Lady Rhyg. My brothers Helblindi and Byleístr are sons of Laufey- King and Jeweled Sorcerer Fárbauti is their Dam. My mother is Midgardian and my father Jotun." Loki corrected calmly. "But that is not the point of this call is it?"

"No... you're right. Forgive me. Now then you say you there was men working to build a building on Ms. Nubia's property without her consent? She is in fact not anywhere on her vast properties?"

"No she is not. And you are correct. When I asked the men what they were doing, they said they were building a factory of sorts and when I informed them that they were on Lady Nubia's lands, the man in charge paled and said he would need to call Hammer and then they packed up and left."

"... Alright, I'll tell Fury and have in look into it. I will try to call Ms. Nubia's assistant. He will know where she is and inform her. And by the way, I almost believed you about being Loki, but Loki's a Liesmith." and with that he hung up.

Loki blinked at the phone, frowning before shrugging. He would not force someone to believe him if they do wish to do so. It is was no concern.

"He says he will contact Fury about Hammer." Loki told them, giving the device back to Jane.

"Alright, so let's get you to the hospital now." Jane said, leaving no room for argument.

Thor huffed, but consented as Loki chuckled at his quite grumbles...

After spending a few hours at the Hospital where the doctors all poked and prodded Thor to the point of making the large Aesir want to rip their ribs from their backs, the group of for found themselves in Jane's work place/home. Loki had taken advantage of having some of his jewels on him, he showed a couple to Darcy who looked ready to have heart attack or at least jump his bones and asked her if he could exchange them for their realm's currency. She agreed and couldn't help but laugh when Loki turned to Thor and asked him, that while the doctors were being annoying pests, to not lose his temper and that he would be back with clothes and a meal. The promise of food seemed to be enough to keep Thor from spazzing out or was it the promise of seeing Loki in different clothing?

Either way, Thor sat silently as possible, only the occasional growl and baring of his human teeth, while Loki and Darcy went to the town's best jewelers. The old man who own the shop nearly had a heart attack when Loki showed him a pure, uncut emerald the size of a full grown cardinal and was sure he died and went to heaven when he saw a sapphire, carefully cut into a snowflake the size of his palm. When asked why Loki was selling them, he shrugged saying that he and his partner needed money seeing as they didn't bring anything with them, no clothes and the like. The old man nodded and took the jewels to appraise them, also to make sure they weren't stolen from some priceless collection.

When it all done, he apologized to Loki saying that he didn't have enough money to compensate one jewel let alone both. He had to call one of the larger jewelry stores, he gave the jewels back to Loki and asked him to come back in a few days, however he still gave him 5,000 dollars because he's never seen such craftsmanship before and the snowflake sapphire was absolutely stunning. Loki had protested, but the man told him that it was an honor to see such a gem, pure and sculpted to perfection. Loki blinked as he carelessly said that his brothers find the gems and either give them to him raw or after they've cut and polished them. He also said that his family owned several mines where the gems come from. The Old man looked like he had a religious experience or was that a stroke about to happen?

Either way, Loki took the money and promised he would be back in a few days. Darcy gave the owner her cellphone number so that he could call them when he got in contact with the bigger Jewelry stores. After leaving, Darcy took him to a clothes department where she tried to explain fashion and the various designs and the purpose for them. Loki listened closely as he looked through the items and frowned a bit when there weren't many selections for men, but dozens and upon dozens for women. When he asked her about it, Darcy shrugged and told him that humans have this view that men should be macho and dress manly while women dress as girly and or slutty as possibly.

Loki had blinked, huffed and shook his head before he began to gather clothes, underwear and shoes for Thor, whatever didn't fit he could magically alter. Once he had a his selections, calculating the total in his mind as he read the price tags, he set them into the cart Darcy grabbed and then he began looking for himself. Darcy watched him browse about selecting a few things before moving to the women's section and doing the same thing. She asked him what he was going to with the women's clothes, Loki told her that since he was Jotun, he was neither man nor woman and even then his mother did not believe in gender norms seeing as she herself could change her sex when she wanted to with a spell or potion.

In all he spent over a 1,000 dollars and secretly magicked their bags into two bags that weighed no more than a chicken. After that they had picked up Jane and Thor, left the hospital to get food and now they were getting settled in Jane's home at her behest. Thor dug around the clothes and rumbled in pleasure at the selection, all durable but not too fancy and not too plain. After Jane showed him how to operate the shower, he took a selection of clothes and bathed while Loki was changing his own clothing. By the time they were done and came downstairs to the kitchen area, Darcy and Jane were neck deep in arguing about their guests.

"Excuse me, Lady Jane..." Loki spoke up as he came into view adjusting the black and green graphic long sleeved shirt, his thumbs poking out of the thumb holes. Thor was shirt less, his shirt tucked into his back pocket as he toweled off his hair.

"Ohhhh... my..." Jane gasped.

"Shit, mama likes..." Darcy licked her lips as she eyed a rivelet of water that snaked its way over those delicious abs Thor had on display.

"You will look away." Loki growled out, low and dangerous.

Both women looked away and blushed.

"Sorry!" Darcy chirped happily. "But not sorry, I can look all I want, just can't touch!"

Loki snorted, at least one of the women were smart to keep her hands off of his Thunderer. Again his cheeks heated at the thought of Thor being his. Thor grinned brightly as he set the towel on the back of a chair and pulled the shirt on, it was a deep red Henley and almost painted onto his frame.

"Now then, I was going to ask if you are certain it is alright for us to remain here for a few days. And if you wouldn't mind if I send a message to Thor's mother so she does not worry."

"Mother wouldn't worry too greatly. I've not lapsed since you have come to live with us." Thor told him, caressing a fine cheek lovingly as Loki blushed, slapping his hand away while calling him an oaf. "Yes, but I am your oaf."

"Aww, so cute!" Darcy giggled. "I am so shipping this and I will go down with this ship!"

"What?" Jane asked.

"Ugh, I am not explaining Fandom Lingo again, Jane." Darcy huffed, grabbing her laptop and opening it to do her work and maybe raid her favorite fanfiction sites for good stories, specifically ones centering around a pair of Norse Gods.

Loki blinked as Thor chuckled, he didn't get it, but he amused.

"Anyway, no I do not mind you staying, sorry for the mess and I'm afraid their isn't much to do around here seeing as I'm gonna be very busy."

"That's alright, we'll be exploring and yes we will be careful so Thor does not get ran over again." Loki told her, assuring her when she looked ready to protest. "Besides, Thor is a lot sturdier than he looks. I only worry because of the stories my mother told me."

"You speak of her often, are you going to visit her?" Jane wondered.

Loki visibly shut out his emotions and walked silently away, stepping outside and disappearing from view. Thor sighed, a low growl working its way up his throat.

"She is gone. It was recent and while he speaks of her and seems alright, he is still mourning her loss." Thor told them. "You did not know so do not apologize, it is hollow and meaningless. I will ask however do you have a sturdy shed or cellar?"

"Why?"

"I sleep better in a room that can withstand housing a hellhound." Thor told her, he did not say it was because he was going to lock himself inside it until the Beast calmed itself and located Loki to keep them anchored.

"No shed but I have a storm cellar. We get tornadoes on occasion." Jane told him, leading him to the cellar. "You gonna be comfy down there? It's freezing during the day and worse at night."

"I will be perfectly fine. Now then, I had better find Loki..." With that he turned and went to look for his Frost Gem, sniffing out his scent and trailing it, his collar, while hidden from view, tugged him towards his ward...

"Dr. Selvig, how are things progressing with the experiment?" a commanding, but oddly friendly voice asked.

"Hello Commander. Everything is going well. The Tesseract is stable for now, but I fear if we try to up the pulse rate of Gamma Radiation, it will become unstable again." Eric sighed, rubbing at his face tiredly. "Is that the only reason you came here?"

"Not really. I heard you got a call from Dr. Foster. Did she see something from the Observatory?" He asked him. Looking the 10 foot tall gateway over, impressed with the structure work, but curious as to why it stood nearly 50 feet away from the small hand sized cube that glowed a cool icy blue.

"No. She was calling because it seems that Hammer was trying to build a new factory on Ms. Nubia's property and wanted me to get in contact with her as soon as possible. But I know she's on one of her trips and has a knack for disappearing completely from the face of the earth. I called her assistant, Mr. Glade to inform him of the incident." He assured him. "Although after she began ranting about running someone over and the man standing up as if he hardly felt it. And another supposedly using magic to heal him. They claimed themselves to be Thor and Loki."

"..." The man looked at him with his only eye, frowning, "What else did she say about them?"

"I actually talked to one of them. Loki."

"The God of Mischief... According to the Myths, he's a bad omen. And I don't like this..." He murmured. "What did he say?"

"That he was the Son of the Ice King Laufey. But how can he be the son of the Ice King when he is the second born Prince of Asgard?" Eric wondered. "And I've never heard of a Lady R-"

"What?"

"I said Lady R-." Eric blinked.

"R what? I can't- wait..." The Commander stopped and thought of something. "I remember reading the stories of King Arthur and the Round table. One of the stories said that Merlin was called Ameris by many other Magic users, most who did not know his real name. I remember Merlin talking to a Dragon who told him that he should use the name Ameris around other Magic users because those who were his enemy could use his Name to control him. Ameris is an Alias for Merlin."

"I see, but that does not really explain why I cannot say R-." Eric told him.

"Actually it does. In one of the stories, Merlin met a young witch who at first was his friend, but then she got greedy and became corrupted. She had learned Merlin's secret and would have exposed him had he not cursed her to never be able to speak his name to another living soul for as long as she lived. She could only say Merlin's name if she was talking to him or saying it a normal setting, but the moment she tired to tell someone he was a wizard, she would suddenly go mute." He told him.

"Oh... So this is similar then? I did not take you for someone who read such things, Commander Fury." Eric laughed.

"You'd be surprised." Nick laughed before he frowned suddenly. "Is that supposed to be doing that?"

Eric turned to see the gateway activating, but no one on his team was operating the consul! Everyone muttered and watched before Eric gasped.

"GET OUT!" He bellowed, quickly ducking behind a pillar as the others fled, Nick Fury ducked as well, pulling out his gun as he turned on his radio.

"Agent Hill, we've got a problem with the Tesseract! Clear the building! Get some reinforcements!"

"Right away sir! I've also contacted Stark, he is on his way and providing medical support!" She called back to him.

"Good..." He peeked around the corner and glared as the gate exploded, but the blast sucked into itself to implode harmlessly, but standing before them was a man. "Baron Strucker..."

"Commander Nicolas Fury... alive I see." the German man smiled charmingly before two large incetoid aliens stepped out of the portal as well. "But not for long..."

The creatures roared and opened fire. Nick ducked back and fired back. Dodging and rolling away from the doctor to keep him safe. Eric pulled out his cell phone, quickly writing an email to Jane and sending it to her before he tossed it into a corner, peeking around the pillar, he saw the consul was free and ran toward it to shut the portal, but upon reaching the consul he gasped as Baron Strucker was before him suddenly, a golden scepter in hand. He pointed the sharp tips into his chest, right over his hear. He gasped and tried to call out, but suddenly Eric found his mind under a strange and heavy sensation that seemed to get heavier until he could no longer control his own body or his own actions.

"Welcome to Team Hydra, Dr. Selvig." Strucker greeted, smiling as pleasantly as a snake.

"Good to be here..." Eric said, typing on the consul and the pedestal that held the Tesseract rose up, unlocking the cube from its place and allowing Selvig to carefully remove it from the power port. "Let's tuck you safely in here, yes? And it's best we leave now. The portal is unstable now and will explode in about 5 minutes."

"Yes you are right... Gentlemen, please?" Strucker called to his Insectoid friends, they joined up with the other two and with a wave of the scepter, the four were gone.

"Hill! Cancel the back up... get everyone the hell out of here! It's gonna blow, you have less than 5 minutes!" He yelled into his radio, slowly getting up and hurrying down halls, up ladders and stairs, ignoring his injuries until he was safely out of the deep underground base.

"Sir what about-"

"Strucker's stolen the Tesseract and he did something to Dr. Selvig and kidnapped him as well..." He cut in, knowing she was going to ask about the cube and the doctor. He ran down a hall and out a set of double doors.

"Need a lift?" Maria Hill chimed as he jumped into the back of her jeep as she slammed her foot down on the gas getting them out of their. But it seemed Strucker brought some his men with him. The Hydra agents were shooting at everyone and everything in their path, not caring that the entire base was about to to become a giant crater. Maria drove with all the skills of a banshee on a serious road rage rampage. She slammed into the Hydra goons cars, pulling out her gun and shooting either them or their tires to get them out of the way as Nick covered their rear. As soon as they cleared the underpass, Nick climbed into the front, replaced the clips in both their guns as they went off road to avoid the road blocks, still trying to get as far as possible.

When the five minutes, though it felt more like 50 minutes, were up, the base rippled from the explosion from the portal and began to fall inwards on itself almost like a building demolition. But then a mushroom cloud suddenly rose up and with it a tidal wave of debris. Anyone who was unfortunate enough to be near the building or in it were all killed, those too far from the blast radius were showered in dust, debris and poisonous gases and gamma radiation. Maria didn't stop driving until they were well away from the area, by then Nick had called HQ and informed them of the turn of events. After being given new orders to return to base and to call in the Avengers, Fury hung up and glared into the distance.

"Sir?"

"Return to base... We need the Avengers..." He told her, thinking back to what he and Eric had talked about before hand. "And I need a team to head to Dr. Foster's Lab, not the one in New Mexico, and bring in the two men there. A Thor and a Loki..."

"Sir?"

"I think it's pretty strange that two strangers appear out of nowhere and conveniently run into Dr. Foster the same day that the Tesseract is to be tested again and then stolen... I want to know who these people are and if they are helping Hydra and I want to know what those Roach things were..." Fury growled out in annoyance. "Send Coulson and Barton with the team."

"Yes sir..."


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Loki sat on a rock face just a few yards from a cliff that hung off the large hill that some would mistake for a mountain. He had come here after Lady Jane had asked about his mother. It brought up the horrid feeling of not sensing her anymore, that he does not know where she is or if she was alive. At first he thought she was dead, but come on, Loki! This is your mother you are talking about! The woman frequently poisons herself for giggles and to scare your father! But still it was moments like these that cropped up every once and awhile, that horrible depression where he wanted nothing but to sit alone and either cry or over think things.

"There you are, Loki." Thor called out, walking over to him and sitting beside him. "You shouldn't run away like that."

"I needed to be alone." Loki told him, bowing his head.

"I know... She did not mean anything by it, but she is right you do talk about your mother quite a bit."

"That's because Mother is the name of God on a child's lips. Mother is the one who carries us, sharing their bodies with us and feeds us until we are ready to be born. They are the ones we hear and see first once we are born, who feed and care for us. We are completely dependent on them until we are adults. For every scraped knees they kiss away the hurt, when we are scared they comfort us, when we are sad they cry with us and when we are angry they calm us down. I love my father and brothers dearly, but because father is King, he is always very busy and rarely has time to spend with me. My brothers as the Crown Princes are just as busy, though I see them more often than father. But mother, she is a constant. She would wake me every morning, smiling bright and full of love. Helping me dress and comb my hair before we would eat a meal together. After she had her duties and I had my studies, but when ever the noon meal came around, she would bring me my food and sit with me as I ate, telling stories of her life and her world. So yes, I speak frequently of her, especially now that she's gone." Loki smiled, watery and sad, bitterly alone.

"As all mothers are, Loki... I will not pretend to know what you feel, but I do not say this as a means to hurt you either. Mother is my God as well and in some ways Mother Jalan as well. For the longest time I only had the two of them when I needed them most and sometimes it wasn't enough. You however have succeeded something that they've tried and failed many times. You make the Beast calm, not tamed, but certainly no longer feral. My mother adores you greatly for that. And while she is not your mother, she loves you like she does me. You have not lost your mother for your mother is in all mothers who put their children before themselves." Thor whispered into his ear, kissing his temple as he pulled Loki into his chest to allow him to cry.

They sat like that for a while, Thor petting Loki's raven hair as Loki cried for his mother and the lost times. When he could no longer cry, he simple laid on Thor's chest, listening to the steady heartbeat.

"You know... Atara would have loved to meet you... and scare the daylights out of you." Loki giggled, picturing his mother trying to frighten Thor would would stand there nervous and unsure what to do about the strange woman. "Father would be looming and ominous as my brothers would challenge you to see if you were worthy..."

"Worthy of what, Civip Kethend?" Thor wondered.

"... Of my hand..." Loki blushed pulling away and looking away from Thor.

The young man sat stunned and then his face split into a wide pleased smile as he gently turned Loki's blushing face back to him. Loki looked into his eyes a moment, the blush intensifying as he looked away, nervously wetting his lips. Thor dove in then, kissing those naturally rosy lips, a soft peck at first that made Loki gasp and his eyes flutter shut. His whole body going lax in his hold allowing Thor to kiss him again, deeper this time.

Loki's brain felt like it short circuited, his toes curled with pleasure and his whole being felt fuzzy and warm. His quim throbbed softly, moistening and for the life of him, Loki wanted to know why, but couldn't find the brain power to thing about it now. All his focus was on the slightly chapped feel of Thor's lips on his, the slightly rough drag of his tongue against Loki's and those large calloused hands buried in his hair, caressing his neck.

"I vowed once to be all that I can be to you, your sword, your shield and now I wish to be your lover. Even if you deny me this, I will always be your friend and never begrudge you your decision." Thor growled low, a calming sound as his eyes looked brighter, less human.

"Please..." Loki begged, his voice wrecked, lips a bright red from the kiss. "Please, Thor..."

"What is it? Tell me." He ordered, soothing the younger prince.

"Don't leave me... stay... be mine... please..." Loki sobbed and Thor pulled him in for another kiss...

Thor laid on the soft grass, the sun had set and the moon, only a thin smile in the sky had risen, his Beast was awake and alert, their mate slept curled around his side. Lips swollen and inviting, tried tear tracks on still flushed cheeks while that wonderful pale neck was covered in his claiming bites and hickeys, letting all who saw know that this wonderful Jotun belonged to him. And as much as he wanted to stay here for the evening, it was a strange realm and he did not wish to endanger his precious mate. Slowly standing, Thor scanned the area for danger when he sensed none, he swept Loki up into his arms, the man growling adorably in his sleep as he snuggled closer.

"No..." he moaned out, a weak thump on Thor's chest. "No move..."

Thor chuckled at the cuteness of Loki and turned the way he came. He walked the three miles without a problem, he's used to running around all night and most of the day time, his stamina is beyond that of even his people. When he entered the town he saw Jane and Darcy wandering about. He quickly walked up to them and both women looked relieved.

"Do not wake him..." He told them when he saw them about to speak.

Darcy cooed at the cuteness before, how tiny Loki looked in Thor's arms. Jane felt a flash of jealousy, but shook her head as she looked Loki over to make sure he wasn't hurt. She saw the love bites on his neck and again that fission of jealous rose up and was stubborn to be shoved aside again.

"Glad to know you're both alright." Jane told him.

Thor wasn't foolish he heard the skips in her heart, can smell the bitterly sour smell of jealously coming from her, but he nodded none the less. She turned and leads them back to her place and he walked to the cellar as soon as they arrived. The two women watched him as opened it and then gently wake Loki. The darker man whined, but awoke and they seemed to start speaking gibberish before Loki sighed, standing on his own feet as Thor striped naked. Darcy and Jane watched shamelessly at first before horror found its way to their faces as once Thor was naked, he turned into a beast, that then circled around Loki a moment or two and then wandering to them.

"Don't move. Don't run..." Loki told them as Thor got closer and began to head butt them softly, sniffing and nipping at their hands. "He's familiarizing himself with you. As of now, you are part of the Clutch."

"The Clutch?"

"Yes. Mother Jalan is a Demoness and the form she is most comfortable in is a Dragon. Dragons had Clutches." Loki told them as Thor gave Darcy a happy purr when she shy rubbed the spot between his ears.

"Whoa... he's like a chimera of animals... He looks like a wolf, but is hulking like a bear, but he's graceful like a big cat! And he purrs too..." She giggled as he brushed passed her and huffed at Jane before he walked back to Loki, bringing his head under the hand that had their contract bindings, the ring&bracelet glowed and the collar around his neck appeared, glowing as well before he brushed by Loki and into the cellar.

Loki flicked his hand and the doors shut behind Thor, the chain connecting his ring to his bracelet disconnected from them and enlarged itself, wrapping around the doors and securing them tightly. Once it was done, Loki turned to the two women and the three of them went inside for the night, Loki explaining to them that Thor normally wandered around at night and hunted and ate whatever crossed his path, the only things safe from him were those in the Clutch. Jane paled as Darcy asked what most would call insensitive questions, but Loki realized she liked to know as much as she could about something so she can either avoid it or keep herself and those she cares for out of harms way. They sat up nearly the whole night talking, falling asleep on the sofa bed about an hour before dawn...

"Mr. Stark, Director Fury is on the line for you." came the calm voice of his AI while he was busy installing a new component to the clean energy power source he was building for his building.

"Oh, and what does old One Eye want?" Anthony Stark, more commonly known as Tony Stark, asked.

"It would seem he is assembling all Avengers." the AI said again. "He is also in the elevator about to get off."

"Wonderful..." The ping from the elevator came a moment later and sure enough Nick Fury was walking off the elevator. "Hello again, Fury, what did I do this time?"

"Nothing. Though I wanted to personally thank you for the medical teams you sent, it saved a lot of peoples lives." Nick told him, a rare moment of genuine gratitude shown to the annoying but brilliant billionaire.

"You're welcome. Did we lose anyone?"

"Only Dr. Selvig, but he isn't dead. He seems to have been brainwashed by Baron Strucker and some strange insectoids. They took the doctor and something else that he was working on."

"Oh? And what was it? Is it dangerous?" Tony asked, still working, but very interested. "Jarvis, I just finished installing it, time to see if it works."

"Right away, sir. Ms. Potts is on the line." He informed.

"Hi Pepper." He called cheerily to her.

"Tony, what are you doing now?" She asked, fond exasperation coloring her tone. "Is there a reason I am flying around Stark Towers?"

"Yep! Just one second... Jarvis."

"Right away sir."

Moments later the machine came to life and began humming with power as brilliant lights began to pulse in and out of it in controlled intervals as a single beam shot out of the top and up into the tubing. Moments later the building flickered to life and Tony smiled.

"Pep, how does it look?"

"Ohh, Tony..." she breathed, amazed. "This is that new project you were working on?"

"Yep, self re-energizing clean power. This building is a test run, if it meets all expectations and beyond I want to build more of these for affordable housing, hospitals and the like. I was very bored..." He shrugged.

"Of course, because Tony Stark never does anything for the better of humanity." Pepper rolled her eyes.

"Exactly. Are you on your way out to a meeting?"

"Yep. I will be gone for a few months, don't do anything crazy. Or I will have Natalie hit you with a horse tranquilizer." She threatened him. "Or Phil."

"Seriously?" Tony gaped at the holo vid as Pepper smiled and disconnected the call. "Shit she's not kidding..."

"Well I'm glad you got this up and running-"

"The top floor is the Penthouse suites. They are available for the Avengers to use for now." Tony cut him off. "Now what else do you want from me?"

"How about Iron Man joining the Avengers? We could use his help."

"I'll talk to him and see about that..." Tony smiled.

"Good. Also you will be joined by Agents Romanov and Barton, when he gets back from his mission. Dr. Bruce Banner and Capt. Seven Rogers. And tell me, how much do you know about Norse Mythology..." Nick smirked...

Darcy was watching the news about a strange satellite falling earth, the locals making a huge party out of trying to pull it out of the ground and the like, but it wouldn't budge for nothing and then the government came and sent everyone home. She snorted in disgust because while she loved her freedom as an American, she hated the government for always covering up shit. If it was a satellite why couldn't the 150 odd people not pull it out and when they tried to dig it out, why couldn't they dig under it? And if it really was a satellite, why would Secret Service looking goons show up and not NASA?

Her phone ringing is what saved her from jumping on line and breaking a few more rules than normal. Picking it up she blinked at the unknown collar.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Ms. Lewis from the other day? You came to my father's store to sell a couple of jewels." The woman on the other end said in a false chipper voice, the one used for costumers to make them feel valued and welcomed.

"Yes this is Darcy." She told her. "What about them?"

"Well we've gotten in contact with a few of the high end Jewelers and they've sent a few of their people here to look at the jewels and to estimate their value. Could you please stop by at your soonest convenience?" She asked.

"I'll get my friend and we'll stop by later this afternoon, is that alright?'

"That's perfect, have a pleasant day."

"You too." And Darcy hung up as she got up to go look for Loki. She found him down in the cellar with Thor, the blonde looked like he had a really rough night and was passed out, naked on Loki's lap "Hey, the Jewelers just called, they got some of the Big Boys to come and take a look at those gems of yours and to estimate their value."

"I see, well I'm sure the money I have now is more than enough for us, we don't need anymore..." Loki told her. "But still if they give it to me, I'll just give it someone else. The old man was kind and I feel terrible I almost caused him health issues due to shock."

"Well they said to come in when it was convenient for us. How's Thor?"

"Sleeping better now. He's not used to be locked up at night. And it was even worse because I wasn't here with him. He hurt himself pretty bad, but he's healing and resting." Loki rubbed Thor's head, smiling fondly at him.

"You really love him, don't you?" Darcy asked, squatting down near them, a fond smile on her lips.

"Yes... and I know he feels the same for me, we may not have said it, but its there in out actions. He didn't have to save me, welcome me into his Clutch, bind himself to me for as long as I will have him. The collar you saw last night is our contract, much like this bracelet and ring." Loki told her, smiling softly at the white gold jewelry. "It keeps us tied together no matter how far apart we are and allows us to find one another."

"Whoa, cool... Hey what's this one?" she asked pointing to the silver bangle on his left wrist.

"My mother gave this to me... I've never taken it off since then. She is gone now... I don't know what happened to her but I do know that it was painful to no longer feel her and it still hurts. I try to feel her out with our bond, but it echoes and nothing ever comes back. I can feel my father and brothers, they are all safe and alive, but not her..." He bowed his head, petting the bracelet.

"I'm very sorry, Loki... It's not easy losing a parent. I've only had my dad since I was a little girl. Don't get me wrong, he's the absolute best! But sometimes I'd see others with their moms and would get very sad and angry because I didn't have a mommy. She died from breast cancer, we didn't know until it was too late to get her help. But even if she's not here physically, I know she's s here spiritually because sometimes when I get really depressed I can almost hear her telling me to stop, breathe and let go." Darcy smiled weakly.

"I'm sorry you spent so little time with her..."

"Hey, like the old saying goes, Mother is the name of God on a child's lips..." She shrugged.

Loki smiled, he had said the same only the night before.

"... Loki?" Thor groaned.

"Shh, we're safe, we're here..." Loki told him, cooing and shushing him.

"... Feel it... something calling... something missing..." he whispered, slowly sitting up, Loki magicking pants on him before Darcy got to see the legend that made the man. She pouted at Loki who gave her a playful mocking look.

"You feel what?" Loki asked.

"Something... something that was missing..." Thor murmured.

"I don't understand..." Loki sighed, but then smiled brightly. "But you can go look for it. I'm sure if it feels like it is a part of you, then go get it. No one likes to feel incomplete."

Thor smiled, kissed Loki as he stood, he blinked at Darcy who had her phone out. She just giggled and kept doing whatever it was she was doing. Shrugging, Thor grabbed the shirt Loki summoned up for him and after a quick meal (a whole box of poptarts and a cup of coffee) Thor left to find whatever it was he felt and Loki smiled at Darcy, after changing his clothes to a black button up shirt, a hunter green vest with earth brown skinny jeans and pair of women's three inch ankle boots. His hair was curly from washing it, limp still with water and he looked yummy.

"Damn it... Are all Gods this hot?" Darcy asked.

"I wouldn't know... I'm not a God." Loki told her.

"Well according to Norse Mythology, you're Loki the God of Mischief."

"So I've been told by Lord Eric." Loki huffed.

"Well we'll look into it later on and see what is true and what is false Ok?"

"Sure. Let's get going." Loki chuckled as they linked arms and left...

Laufey blinked at the small woman before him as she gazed calmly back. Who was she and what did she know about his wife and child? Slowly moving to sit down on a low cushion, something his wife has made back in the palace for her comfort. He felt a chuckle want to rise as he sat on the chair that magically grew to fit his frame comfortably, but repressed it. The woman nodded and turned to the nest like bed, grabbing a damp cloth to lay it on something within the cocoon of blankets.

"As I've said, we need to discuss your wife and youngest son... She is not all she appears to be, but I'm sure you've noticed that a long time ago." She smiled at him

"Yes, I've noticed." He murmured, eyeing her.

"Wary of me, good." she smiled. "However unwarranted. Rhyg and I are very good friends, sisters and once upon a time lovers."

Laufey went stiff, but the woman laughed.

"She was my husband and a handsome man she makes, dear Ice King. We are old and we are ancient. We make ourselves mortal and reincarnate every few life times when we are needed most. We are not worshiped, in fact we are feared and loathed. Death for us is not death, but simply sleep. She is in that sleep right now..." She turned to the bed, taking back the cloth to rinse and wring it out in cool water.

"I do not understand..."

"I mean, Laufey-King, that your wife and I are Death and Chaos, the oldest of the Gods, the Father and Mother of the Universe, the ones who breath life into you and all realms." She said, her voice turning from young to something ancient, her presence was so overpowering he fell to his belly, prostrating himself before a being who is said to reside in Valhalla and another who weaves the Loom.

"Forgive me, my Lady Norn!" He begged.

"Stop that." and like that the presence was gone and he was able to look up again. "You married Chaos and she has birthed you a wonder child, you are not our servant, but our equal. You are on of the many we have loved and mate, have sired and carried children for, have loved and died for."

"But she was mortal-"

"We are ancient beings, Immortality is long and boring life. Boredom is the true Evil of the universe, all universes. Idle hands are the Devil's playthings, however a God with idle hands in nothing buy destructive. Your son, Loki is not just your son and Prince of his people, he is the Heir to the Chaos Mantle. Unlike his many siblings, he is not Havoc, Discord or Strife, nor is Catastrophe, Disaster or Destruction. He is born Mischief and like his mother, Chaos, he is neither good or evil. He is balance and balance is what the world needs." She told him.

"What!?"

"Ragnarok will come, Ice King... But if all goes to the will of Odin, it will mean the death of your son and the return of the Dark Age." She frowned. "It also means your mate and wife will lose her memories of you, of the love you have and she is a terrible being when she has lost all that anchors her."

"No- You are lying!" He bellowed, making the figure whine, curling up tighter in the bed.

"Shh, Rhyg, please..." Serene begged, petting the figure's head. "You've hurt yourself something terrible, you need rest... shhh..."

"... -oki... -aby... whe-..."

"Shh, Loki is safe, he's well, no need to fear..." Serene promised, looking at the Ice King who looked shocked and somewhere between elation and utter horror. "Your husband is here, he wishes to see you..."

"NO!" She screamed, curling up tighter, a formation of crystals around her make it impossible for even Serene to see or touch her.

"Shit... stubborn fool..." She sighs. "I am leaving her in your care, Ice King. I should not be here, but I came because she was hurt and needed me. You better take very good care of both her and Loki. Do not let Odin's will win out against yours. You love your son, you want him safe and happy. Ragnarok cannot be avoided, however if Loki is loved and happy, then we will not perish, if he is broken and bitter, we will fade and personally I do not like putting up with Rye when she is in one of her Destructive phases. Ask the Dark Elves what happened to their world to make it so barren and dead, ask them what happens when you poke a sleeping entity of Chaotic nature."

With that she stood, smirked at him and faded away. As soon as she was gone, Glade came in, placing his hand on the crystal formation, it glowed and an opening appeared.

"My lady, I've been contacted by a Dr. Eric Selvig, he says someone was attempting to build illegally on our territory." He spoke calmly, almost emotionlessly.

"... bas-... too tired... Why are you all bothering me!?"

Laufey smiled, she sounded much better, and always so cranky when woken up.

"My wife... please do not be angry with your man servant." He spoke up coming to her bedside, but the crystal closed before he could see inside. "Rhyg, please... do not hide from me..."

"No..." She moaned. "You will not like what you see..."

"Rhyg, you could never be ugly in my eyes..." He told her, laying his hand on the crystal. "You and Loki are my most treasured possessions. Fárbauti, Helblindi and Byleístr as well. I could be poor and homeless, but still feel like a King if you were all at my side. I buried one mate, I do not wish to lose another... Our sons are hidden, safe, but not for long, you need to heal and quickly if we are to find them and hide them from Malekith..."

Glade bared his teeth, fangs that did not belong to an Elf gleamed in the light as his amethyst colored eyes turned a demonic blue that matched those of the Dark Elves perfectly.

"Never speak that cur's name!" He growled.

"Glade!" Rhyg growled out, the crystal vibrating with the sheer force. "Go look into the issue, call Eric back and tell him I wish to see him..." She huffed, the crystal slowly melting away as she sat up and Laufey could see why she wanted to hide, but still she was beautiful to him. "You see me?"

"I see you... I will always see you..." he cupped her cheek, ignoring the terrible burning in his hand, the way his flesh blackened and he lost feeling in it. "You look beautiful..."

"I'm a monster, Husband... I'm not what I appear to be..." She told him, pulling away and instantly his hand felt better, the nercotizing affect reversing as he regained feeling. "I'm the thing that all fear, cursed and damned."

"And yet I see the mother of my sons... the Queen of my people, my mate whom I will love and die for. Now come, let us get you bathed. You will feel better. Maybe once you are done we can search for our children, yes?"

"Helblinid is safe with the King of Musphelheim while our darling Byleístr has returned home and is gathering the whole of Jotunheim to rally to their King when he calls. And our sweet little one is safe... HERE!? Aw Son of my accursed womb!"


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Rhyg, also known as Ryilia Nubia and more commonly as Rye, rolled out of her bed, but hissed when her feet touched the ground and recoiled. She hated this, she was so weak and at the same time so dangerous right now. Glade simply left to get the wooden tub as Laufey tried to comfort her, but she shied away from him. How he could still think her beautiful when she looked like this. She was untouchable, her flesh became neroctizing and she looked like something from the deepest pit of Helheim. The only that remained the same was her green eyes.

"Loki is here, but-"

"You cannot leave until you are healed, my lady. I will retrieve the young master." Glade promised, setting the large tub down on the floor right by the bed where Rhyg slide into it and summoned water to fill it with milk salts to make it murky and hide her from sight as much as possible.

"You will do no such thing, Glade..." She sighed. "If we draw attention to him, he will be in danger. And I will be damned if my Air gets hurt." Looking down at the talons that replaced her fingers, the strange things that passed as her hands, she frowned. "Star shouldn't have come, but I'm glad she did... She can talk sense into me where others cannot."

"She was... interesting."

"Death always is..." Rhyg giggled. "So, do you see me differently, knowing I'm not what I've said I was..."

"You are an Agent of Chaos, you do His will and you do so without complaint. Something you have taught Loki. Sometimes you need to be cruel in order to be kind and kind in order to be cruel. It does not change who you are and how those closest to you view you. As far as I am concerned you are Rhyg, the Midgardian woman who offered herself for peace and has become my mate and wife, beloved by my people and our children. Friends of my first mate, his sister and his successor."

She smirked, bitter and amused as she sank under the water, laying under it as Laufey chuckled.

"I do not need to worry, do I?" He wondered.

"She will not drown, my lord." glade promised, frowning at the phone in his hand. "My lady, I cannot reach the doctor."

"Then it has begun..." She grumbled sitting up. "Glade, go keep an eye on Loki. Tell me what is happening... I think its time to throw a few wrenches into Fate's plans!" She grinned wide and terrible, her teeth were beyond inhuman not even the foulest bests had teeth like those and yet Laufey did not cower.

"You are up to mischief again..." He sighed.

"You love me for it." She cooed, ducking down into the water again.

"That I do... that I do..."

Meanwhile, Loki and Darcy sat in the back office with the shop owner, his daughter and five impressive looking jewelers. Loki had handed over the two gems, setting them on the plush velvet cushion, and waited for the men to look them over. As they waited, Loki looked them over, they were all posh looking, stuffy and arrogant. They had looked down their noses at him, all but the old man and a man somewhere between his mid to late thirties. Loki was use to it, just because he was well liked and loved by the majority of his people, didn't mean there weren't the few some odds who thought he was a disgrace, a shameful stain upon the house of Ymir, but Loki had ignored them, choosing to care only for what his parents and brothers thought of him.

Darcy sat beside him, tapping her fingers on her arm in a nonsensical pattern, eyeing them as well. The old man's daughter has been giving her dirty looks since they arrived, probably thought she and Loki were together and was jealous because Loki was obviously rich. She also noticed that one of the jewelers spent more time looking at Loki than he did the jewels. Loki sat back in his chair, back straight, with his arms crossed over his chest and one leg crossed over the other, his foot lightly kicking back and forth. His face was unreadable, but his eyes were like a serpent's, focused and calculating. The man had hazel green eyes, a comely face, his light brown almost blonde hair was receding and starting to gray a little at the temples and sides.

His face was rounding with age and wrinkles from stress or worry were forming, but also mixed with a few happy/laughing lines. He was also beginning to get a five o'clock shadow. He was of average height, just a little under average build for his slim frame and while dressed in a suit, he did not strike Loki as a Jeweler or an appraiser. Loki had a sinking feeling about this man, but then he blinked his eyes slowly and slide his gaze to the others after they seemed satisfied with his gems.

"Mr. Laufeyson, these gems are truly remarkable! The raw emerald alone is worth millions of dollars and the snowflake cute sapphire will fetch quite a few pretty pennies!" A blonde woman gushed, "My company is willing to pay 3 million for a chunk of the Emerald alone."

"Our bosses agree with the price and will also take chunks of Emerald, splitting it into fours, the last piece will remain here with Mr. Jovinski, the man you originally sold it to. As for the Sapphire, we cannot and will not break it or damage it any form, but if you wish, we could put it up for auction." Another man said, the others nodding in agreement.

"And the money earned in the auction, what will be done with that?" Loki asked, his tone light, almost friendly, but it gave nothing of his emotions away nor did his face.

Darcy was enjoying the show, snickering silently to herself.

"What do you wish to be done with it?"

"I have a fondness for children and I've learned there a quite a few hospitals in need of money as well as orphanages. Whatever money is earned from the sapphire will go to the Hospitals and the money you wish to pay me right now for the emerald will go to the Orphanages. I will only take 20,000 dollars out of all of that, I do not need so much just what I and my fiance will need to live comfortably for the duration of our stay." Loki informed them, his tone still polite and cordial, but commanding and leaving no room for argument.

"As you wish Mr. Laufeyson." The Jewelers agreed, rather shocked and maybe a little gooey in the mild for Loki demanding that all that money be given to children in need rather than keep it himself or giving it to some others who would do lord knows what with that kind of cash.

After finalizing the price, signing some papers, Loki watched the jewelers carefully cut the emerald into four pieces, giving one to Mr. Jovinski, the owner of this store and taking their own pieces as well before the last two jewelers packed up the sapphire and handed over a check of 20,000 dollars to Loki to be cashed at any bank he wished. Once done, everyone shook hands and Loki offered his arm to Darcy so they could leave. But as they were about to leave the store, the last jeweler walked up to them.

"Mr. Laufeyson, may I have a word with you?" He asked.

"I was wondering when you would finally make your move." Loki calmly stated, nodding in acceptance as they stepped out onto the street and away from the door of the shop. "What would you like to know?"

"Those jewels were very impressive and according to Mr. Jovinski, your family owns the mines from which they were dug out of and that your brothers were the ones to cute and shape the sapphire."

"Yes." Loki nodded.

"Where are these mines located and do you have the land title deeds to them available?" He asked.

"They are located in my homeland and of course my family keeps any and all legal documents, and their copies, stored away." Loki answered, but also evaded easily enough. "But before we continue this line of questioning, I would like to know who I am talking to."

The man opened his mouth a moment, before closing it again, seeming to think of what to say. That earning him a smidgen of respect from Loki, but only a smidgen.

"You are correct, I did not realize I never formally introduced myself." The man nodded in consent. "My name is Phillip Coulson, only close friends and colleagues are allowed to call me Phil." He smiled, offering his hand to shake.

Loki took his hand and smiled, polite but cold, his grip just shy of rude aggression.

"Now that that is over, I'd like some clarification of your homeland-"

"Hey, Jane's calling!" Darcy gasped, grabbing her phone and answered it. Loki could hear Jane's frantic and annoyed yelling through the phone as Darcy tried to calm her down to make sense of what she was going on about. "WHAT!? They took my iPod again!?"

Loki blinked, as Coulson only cocked an eyebrow. Darcy kept trying to get info out of Jane before she gave an annoyed growl.

"Loki, come on! Jane's about to kick some Fed's balls and I wanna know who the fuck took my damn iPod!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him away as Coulson looked after them.

"I could give you a ride over there-" He grabbed his own phone when he felt it vibrating.

Loki glanced back at him as he seemed to be distracted by the call. Quickly turning back around, he whispered a spell and both he and Darcy teleported back to Jane's Lab...

Thor walked from the town in the direction of the pull. His nerves were tingling like he was being shocked with electricity, but at the same time it felt as if they would jump out of him. He's never felt something like this. It was different from the pull he felt with Loki. Where Loki was concerned it was a pull in his heart, in his instincts; both he and his Other half felt Loki was their mate and loved him with their entire being. But this it was a pull to his magic, as poorly trained it was, but powerful and wild like the raging of the storms he could conjure if his emotions ran high enough. He had traveled for almost five miles on foot before he saw a lone truck pull up beside him and Jane leaned out the window to smile at him.

"Thor?" She called.

"Lady Jane." He bowed his head, still walking. "What are you doing out here?" He asked her.

"I was on my back from one of my campsites, picking up my records and switching out my tapes and the like." She laughed. "Did you and Loki fight?"

"No, Lady Jane, nothing like that. I am looking for something. Loki had business in town with the Lady Darcy." Thor told her.

"Well let me at least drive you there-"

"No thank you, I like walking." he assured her.

"Please..." She begged. "It's too far, wherever you are going..."

Thor stopped and sighed, climbed into the truck and as they drove along, he gave her directions until about another two miles out there was a mini city built around a crater with a fence built around it that was guarded by regular patrols and even guard towers where soldiers stood with non-lethal air soft rubber bullet guns. Above them was a crane, a single man stood in there but over all everyone moving about was dressed in lab coats and suits. Thor climbed out of the truck and with the stealth of a born hunter, stalked out to a lone ridge that seemed to be the only blindspot.

"Thor..." Jane whispered, having followed him.

He growled low and glared at her, pulling her down and out of sight.

"Lady Jane, please... you cannot be here!" He felt his face shift only the slightest bit, but it was enough to make the Midgardian to back away. "Leave now, get back home and make sure that you, Lady Darcy and Loki are safe... NOW!"

She jumped at the snarl, the ethereal glow of his eyes were anything but godly and it looked like he would not hesitate to kill her if she did not leave. She slowly backed away and when she was far enough, she turned tail and jumped into her truck to head back to her lab. Growling lowly, Thor lowered himself further into the ground, his hands flexed once and blackened claws grew from his finger nails as his jaw ached from his teeth shifting and the human ones fell out as his fangs grew in their place. Spitting the bloody teeth out, he gave a low growl, shifting his shoulders making the muscles shift and the points to pop. He smirked as the wind howled by him, bringing with her storm clouds and in the distance he heard the claps of thunder and saw flashes of lightning.

In minutes the storm had gathered and within a heartbeat a heavy sheet of rain fell, soaking the earth and everyone still outside in water. It was time. Slipping over the ridge and sliding down the slope with well practiced ease, Thor hit the ground running and slipped into the base, knocking out two of the guards and scaring a scientist into running into a post, knocking themselves out. He snorted in human as he slipped down a random hall. It was built in a circular formation, but had as many twists and intersections like a Celtic Knot. As he traveled along, he knocked aggressors out as the scientists fled or quickly stayed out of his way.

It wasn't until he hit the halfway mark that the alarm finally went off and the simply security guards were replaced with soldiers ready to take him out. But he lunged at them, shouldering one man in the gut, flipping him over his shoulder before punching another in the face, spinning out of a few punches aimed at him, ducking low and at the same time kicking his foot up, the motion and momentum causing him to spin like a top, his heel smashing into several faces before he straightened up and took off, running faster.

He could hear a shouts all around him, but didn't give them attention, he was now in a rush since he's been spotted. He barely dodged a barrage of rubber bullets, snarling low as he went from running on two feet to his hands and feet, dodging more bullets until he was upon his attackered, his blackened claws swiping at their armored chest, nicking flesh. He snapped his fangs at another person, snarling lowly when they pulled a knife.

"Come on, punk..." He growled at Thor. "I'm not scared of you."

" **You** _should_ _**be**_..." Thor hissed low, his voice layered with the Beast, his words sounding more like he was gargling tar mixed with gravel. Flexing his hands he lunged...

Coulson jumped out of his car as soon as it slowed enough to do so, rushing into the command center, his radio in hand.

"The Hell is going on!?" He demanded, annoyed. "Agent Santigo?"

"There's a massive electrical surge that is not normal nor is this storm... the system's glitching in and out and it seems to be emanating from the hammer and another." He said, his bald head covered in mild rain water as he walked in from outside and sat down at a free desk typing on it and pulling up a chart that should the EMF readings.

"Wait, another? And it's moving?" Coulson blinked before his radio crackled. "Go for Coulson."

"Sir, I got eyes on an intruder and I've got to say he's good. Real good... I can't pinpoint his training, looks a like a mix of various military styles." An amused voice crackled through the speaker.

"... If I didn't know better, I'd say you have a bit of a crush on this guy." Coulson huffed, looking up to see another agent walk in with a box of lord knows what from Dr. Foster's Lab. "Stay on standby, I wanna see this..."

"You better hurry up, Cupcake's facing him now."

He ordered the boxes to be lined up and for Santigo to follow him. They walked to an balcony like area and watched the shadowed forms of the man nicknamed Cupcake and the inturder crash through the plastic tarp. They rolled about in the mud before breaking apart, Cupcake was a very tall man and broad with thick muscles, a shaved head and was a mixed heritage, his dark skin even darker with mud now. He stood up, his knife in hand with the blade braced against his forearm, his stance that of a boxer as he grinned at the other man.

Coulson saw that the man was tanned, though now he was covered nearly head to toe in mud. He's not sure if he had blonde hair or if it was dirt blonde because of how dirty he was, his shirt must have been tight before because now it was painted onto his frame and while he was very tall, he was shorter than Cupcake by a few inches, but much broader, almost like he was built strictly for fighting. His jean were glued to him and couldn't be comfy but he didn't seem to notice. He also noticed the man was barefoot, how strange...

"This will be interesting..." Santigo murmured, adjusting his glasses as they waited for the two to start again. Cupcake was enjoying this fight, something that large man rarely did.

Coulson nodded but blinked when the intruder went from standing to all fours, his stance wide, but clearly meant to give him quick mobility. It was like watching a Wolf crouch, waiting to either fight or flee. And then with a crack of thunder. The two men charged, the met in the middle, it was a cluster fuck of limbs for a moment before both agents jerked when the knife went flying by them and embedding into a metal post behind them. They looked back when they heard Cupcake cry out, his arm broken as the blonde man snarled like an animal before he stood up tall and walked with such confidence, it could only be Swag, toward the hammer.

Thor stared at the item, every nerve in his body was singing, begging him to grab the hammer. It was made from Adamantite metal, indestructible, beautifully crafted leather bound the handle as carefully etched runes decorated the beautiful silver colored head of the war hammer. It looked like it would weigh about 10-15 pounds. He gripped her, for she was too beautiful to be called anything else, with one hand and he felt like a live wire had struck him and his eyes light up like frost and with a sure grip, he lifted her from the mud and held her to the sky above. A bolt of lighting shot from the heavens and hit her mighty head and danced down his arm and over his body, but it did not hurt, in fact he was laughing gleefully as he heard the elements of the storm cry out joyously, welcoming their long awaited brother.

Everyone stood frozen in shock as they watched before the bolt of light shot back into the heavens and Thor stood holding his Iron Lady, who hummed happily in his hand, light as a feather and deadly.

"Now, Barton." Coulson ordered and the man in the crowsnest fired a stun arrow at the blond, hitting him in the back just at the base of his neck. Thor growled out in annoyance, stumbling forward before his eyes rolled and he collapsed...


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Loki and Darcy appeared behind the shed just off the lab, said Midgardian bowed over as she felt both incredibly dizzy and sick to her stomach. Loki rubbed her back as he peeked around the corner and growled low as he saw men in suits and others in uniforms grabbing things from Dr. Foster's lab, said woman was yelling and point and waving her arms about before she seemed to grab her hair and yank on it as she howled out her frustration.

"Dr. Foster is very displeased..."

"Yes, she's pissed because they've done this before when Dr. Selvig found some weird cube... um the Tesseract." Darcy told him, finally able to will her stomach out of her throat and for her head to clear. "I swear if they wipe my iPod again, I'm going to kick every SHIELD agents' asses to the moon and back!"

Loki smiled softly as they kept spying on the group. Then Loki frowned when he saw the things he and Thor had brought with them and the items he bought here being taken. One of those things was his satchel where he kept the jewelry his family gave him to amplify his magic or to use as mediums. While he hasn't used them for some time now, they still held powerful amounts of magic in them.

"They are taking my belongings as well and I will be most upset if they damage anything my family has given from me..." Loki snarled low, his green eyes bleeding red as he flicked his wrists out, but instead of his dancing daggers, he had a pair of batons in hand. "Remain here, Lady Darcy..."

"Whoa..." Darcy gasped as Loki walked out into the open, the batons in hand, held out to his sides as he stalked forward like a Snow Leopard on the hunt. "BAMF Mode activated..."

She pulled out her cellphone to record this because seriously Loki looked Boss and he sounded pretty pissed too. The Jotun Prince seemed to go unnoticed until he flicked one baton in his right hand and with a vicious strike of his left struck a uniformed soldier in the neck, knocking him out before with a blindingly fast twirl, he ducked low, striking another in the stomach once near the belly button and slightly more to the right right in the solar plex, rolling away from three agents attempting to catch him, he used the butt ends of his weapons to smash a few toes, catching one man in the shin, then in the back of the knee and finally just above his groin area.

Loki had rolled onto his feet and stood with his back to the others and with a glare over his shoulder, he spat at them in his native tongue, cursing their beings.

"Shit..." One man said, a woman standing not far from him eyed him with cool eyes, even as her face was mildly shocked. "Get him!"

"Don't!" Jane yelled, but it was too late.

Loki spun, kicking his foot up in a wide arch, catching three in the face as the last man caught his foot, twisting it to collapse him, but Loki turned with it to avoid a broken ankle or pulled tendon, but as he spun and fell, he hooked his baton into the back of the man's knee and jerked it out from under him. They hit the floor but Loki rolled out of the away and back to his feet, snarling low as he held his weapons before his face, his eyes wide and flitting from one attack to the next, counting them, estimating their possible strengths and the likelihood of one of them catching him and pinning. He thought of a pattern and with it set in mind, he rushed forward, striking an agent in the knee and thigh, fracturing the femur as he tripped another and with two quick chops, dislocated her shoulders before he surged to his feet, headbutting a soldier right in the jaw, feeling it crack and shatter against his forehead.

The others quickly backed up and Loki glared at them.

"Return our belongings!" He ordered, hissing out his anger as the people stared at him. "NOW!"

They jumped and quickly set down the boxes they were loading up and Jane ran to them, pulling out several items that belonged to her as Darcy, having slowly walked up to while recording still, rumagged blindly in another box, pulling out her messenger bag that held her laptop, iPod and a few other random items in it before she moved to the last box that had Loki's and Thor's shit in it and began digging around until she felt a butter soft leather pouch and pulled it out. Loki looked to see the red leather satchel and relaxed his stance, dismissing his weapons as he walked forward, his head angled low his presence looming and foreboding. The Midgardians backed away from him as Darcy handed him the bag and he nodded.

"The rest." He simply said and there were several thuds on the floor as the others brought out the other boxes and set them down.

There was a moment of silence before a radio crackled to life and the woman who had watched him answered it.

"Agent Hill." She acknowledged.

"We've captured some wannabe super soldier. He's currently knocked the hell out, he won't wake until night, but I'm assuming he's the one claiming to be Thor." a voice spoke up, sounding annoyed and amused at once.

Loki's eyes narrowed on the device and walked over to the woman, taking her radio and holding it to his lips, pressing the button and snarling out, "You better have lied, mortal, or I will rip your tongue out from your head and feed it to your children!"

Darcy and Jane gaped as Maria stared at Loki like he was something fresh out of a horror movie.

"Who the hell is this!?"

"I am Loki, son of Laufey and the Lady Queen, if harm has befallen my A'mael, I will hunt you down... And you had best pray he wakes before sunset, he's terribly cranky at night." Loki sneered out even as he mentally wove a spell creating a double of him wherever Thor was...

Thor slowly awoke to a gentle hand carding through his hair and when he managed to pry them open, he blinked and looked up to see his Civip Kethend. Loki smiled gently at him, still petting him and he was content, but then he frowned, Loki carried no scent. And when he looked into the mirror across from them, he cast no reflection and even where he stood there was no shadow.

"Forgive me, I am not really hear, Ro ya Fara... but I heard you were captured and needed to make sure you were alright... These Midgardians do not know the danger they are in when night falls and if I cannot rescue you now, A'mael..."

Thor sighed, he knew what Loki was worried about and he nodded, but then Loki vanished as Coulson walked in, the man had introduced himself as such. Thor simply stared at him and another pair of men, one bald and another with light brown hair, nearly blonde, shorn very short and bluish green eyes.

"Your skills are most impressive. Who are you working for? Marines, Army, Navy? Or perhaps, FBI, Homeland Security or CIA? None? What about Interpol or other foreign agencies?" Coulson asked and Thor simply stared.

"Look, if you won't answer, at least give us hints." sighed the brunette, looking like he'd rather be somewhere else.

Thor ignored him, the man was trying to bait him by pretending that Thor was not worth their time, when clearly they went through the trouble of knocking him out and bringing him to this room, not to mention binding him to the chair. When they saw he was not rising to the bait, they looked at him with varying forms of respect and trepidition.

"Fine, my men should be done gathering everything from Dr. Foster's lab and on their way here. Including Dr. Foster and Ms. Lewis and your little friend. He's charming and not foolish... Laufeyson is what he called himself?"

Thor snapped his eyes to Coulson, the first reaction they've gotten, but not necessarily a good one.

"Þú Þora við kæra yðvarr ókræsi-legr mund á minn Svell Blóm." He snarled out between his teeth, feeling the gums itch and burn with the sensation of his fangs wanting to drop again. His claws grew lazily from his finger tips and he lightly ran them along the strong plastic encasing his wrists.

The three men blinked, was this man speaking gibberish? Coulson ordered the bald man to get a universal translator while they left the brunette to watch Thor. Coulson was calling Fury to tell him what was going on right now.

"... So, Blondie... You speak Gaelic?" The brunette asked.

Thor snorted, looking passed him at the mirror where for a moment he saw Loki's reflection in it, but knew his beloved Treasure was not here. The reflection mouthed words to him, repeating them several times until Thor blinked in acknowledgment. Loki, Jane and Darcy were coming to save him, he need only wait a moment.

"How the hell did you lift that hammer? We can't budge it an inch and you lifted it like it was lighter than air." The man asked, both impressed and a bit annoyed.

Thor remained silent.

"... Okay then... at least tell me your name, I was very impressed with your take down tactics. Many of our men are bruised and battered, over all they are a live and humbled." he spoke again

Thor merely tilted his head to one side, looking up at the man, his lips quirking into something that was a parody of a smile. And it was that move that made the brunette's hair stand on end as he realized that Thor's teeth were not normal human teeth. He quickly moved back, grabbing the hand gun from his hip out of its holster and aimed it at Thor, but the man didn't react. It was tense for all of five seconds then the door burst open, three guards landed at his feet and before he could fire the gun, the brunette was struck twice with a pair of batons, one in the cradle of his elbow the seconded at the base of his neck. He dropped to his knees, eyes rolling into his head as he passed out, but not before catching gem green eyes and messy black hair...

"Thor..." Loki breathed as he turned to the blonde, who was calmly standing, rubbing his wrists where the restraints had been hold him. "You are not hurt?"

"Minus a mild headache, I'm well, Civip Kethend..." Thor purred, bringing a hand up to Loki's face and caressing it with reverence. "You have not been injured?"

"No..." Loki purred, leaning into the large warm hand, the rough flesh comforting. "Come, Lady Jane is surely about to birth a Frost Beast if we make her wait any longer."

Thor burst into laughter as Loki tugged him out of the room behind him. The slumped forms of Santigo and Coulson and four more guards blocked them for a moment as they walked over them and then out to the center of the structure where Thor picked up his beautiful Iron Lady. She hummed in his hand and he spun her in his fist a moment before nodding.

"I see you found what was calling you. It's a powerful relic, she was made by the Storm Giants of my home... I believe her name was Mjolnir..." Loki smiled as he gently caressed her silver head and she gave him a buzzing of tingles along his fingers. "Very few, very, very few have been deemed worthy of lifting her, let alone be recognized as her master. You have a truly pure heart and a kind soul for her to allow you to hold her."

"But we both know I am not a kind man nor am I just one." Thor rumbled lowly.

"You were cursed, you did nothing wrong to deserve it and just because you grew up with your afflictions, doesn't make you any less of a man. You protect our Clutch, the town we live in, you aid those who ask it of us and you only hunt those who see fit to cause harm. You had no reason to spare me, to take me in or to bind yourself to me and yet you have, if that is not kindness and nobility then I do not know what else to call it. But now is not the time for this talk."

Thor nodded and followed Loki who flicked his batons and cracked two guards sitting in wait across their faces, breaking their noses and left them howling in agony. It took them only three minutes to walk out of the mini city and along the muddy slope to the road where Jane was sitting in her truck looking ready to either have a fit or possibly storm the building to get the both of them. Darcy was leaning on the side of the truck, flicking through her phone, but then she looked up and smiled.

"Loki! Thor!" She waved and they waved back, still walking, the ground was slick and muddy, Loki was still in his heels and would not break his neck rushing on the slippery terrain. Thor was muddy enough, he did not fancy a second trip in it.

They climbed into the back of the truck as soon as they got to Darcy, who handed them towels to clean up as much as they could.

"We need to get out of here..." Jane growled out.

"Take us to the forest where we first met." Loki told her. "We've spent enough time here, it will betoo dangerous if we remain and our companions will begin to worry for us if we do not let them know we are well and not harmed in any way."

"But-"

"It is that or you see what happens after sunset." Loki promised her his grim face and ice cold tone leaving no room for rebuttal or argument.

Jane didn't say anything else, turning the car on, shifting gears and flooring it...

Nick Fury was calmly standing above a whole room full of some of the world's best Hackers, Computer Experts and Technicians and no one could tell him what the hell happened to the call from Coulson or why no one in New Mexico could be contacted. Coulson had old him that some random blonde man appeared in the base and took out nearly all the security and soldiers sent to guard the 'satellite'. And then the man proceeded to pick up the 'satellite' when no one or anything could pick it up. They had him in custody and were waiting for the other man to be brought in. Coulson had said that while the man spoke gibberish, he was sure that he was the one Dr. Selvig had called Thor. Coulson was speaking about meeting with Loki earlier that day and then suddenly they lost contact.

"Sir! We got a hold of Agent Hill!" A Technician called out from her desk, typing on a few keys on her keyboard and Fury turned to face a small speaker system and pressed the blinking button.

"Maria, tell me something." He ordered, the use of her first name telling her he was worried even if he didn't sound like it.

"I'm alright, but I can't say for my people. We got our asses beat by a man with black hair and green eyes... According to Dr. Foster he was called Loki..." She paused and Fury cocked a brow at the comm and she must have sensed the look. "The paintings and carvings do not do him justice... He's... well to be frank, I want to have his babies."

Fury almost slammed his head into the table, but thankfully she cleared her throat, apologized and gave him the rest of her report. It seemed that both Thor and Loki were adept fighters. And according to Hill, Loki had beat her men using batons, but not ones she was use to seeing. Several had broken bones or the damage to the muscles were extensive enough that they could become permanent. And then she told him the threat that Loki had growled out to Coulson upon learning of Thor's capture. Well that was one he hadn't heard before and in all honest it, it kinda freaked him out because he did not doubt that the man would carry it out.

"Where are they now?" He demanded.

"They left to find Thor. Dr. Foster was kind enough to call Stark for Medical aid. Speaking of which..."

"Hey Fury, care to explain why I'm suddenly Super Nanny? What he hell happened to Hill and the boys? Why didn't you call us in if it was something this bad?"

"Stark, now is not the time for your lunacy and eccentric rants. You were not called in because Hill and Coulson had a handle on everything until someone decided to throw a Super Soldier and what is becoming apparent, an Assassin into the mix." Fury sighed.

"Assassin's Creed Assassin or Thin Man Assassin?" Stark wondered. Fury twitched and sighed. "What can be salvaged, Stark?"

"You're no fun..." He whined before suddenly becoming serious. "Dr. Foster's work, while brilliant and under appreciated, is the same from the last time you raided her labs, she hasn't been in contact with Selvig since she called him about her two new housemates. I sent the appraisers as you had asked with Coulson undercover as one and I have the jewels to examine further to make sure they are real and to find out where these two are from. Ms. Lewis on the other hand, seems to have been blogging, tweeting and Instantgraming about the pair since they arrived. I'm sending you the links now."

A man walked over to him with a pad and handed it off to him where three screens were open and Fury flicked through them until he saw a video and played it. It was a video of the one called Loki beating his people down with the batons, while in heels no less. He winced at the vicious headbutt one of his men got and was mildly amused by Ms. Lewis' snarky play by play.

"Watching the vid? He's pretty impressive for someone who's supposed to be a magician." Stark snorted. "Overall there is no new info from Foster, but I'm copying all of Ms. Lewis data banks and memory cards to examine later. When I know more I'll tell you."

"Alright. Have you sent people to Coulson's location? He hand his people took a beating, Barton's with him as well."

"Wait... Hawk Ass got his but beat?" Stark sounded shocked and then burst into laughter.

"Sir, I've sent a team of doctors over there, Stark's too busy rolling around like a child..."

"Just keep me posted. And someone get eyes on Foster and her group!"

"Already on it, Director."

"Ah, Agent Romanov, what are you doing here? I thought you were in Russia." He smiled as he heard the cool, almost bored tone of his second best Agent besides Barton.

"I got the call from Agent Marcus requesting that all Avengers Report for duty." She verbally shrugged him off. "I see Dr. Foster's truck. They are heading up to Ms. Nubia's compound... Why, I do not know, but I know that Ms. Nubia is not here nor available according to her assistant Glade. In honesty, the way she disappears, you should recruit her."

"I've tried, she's refused every time and disappeared soon after to make sure I do not bother her again." Fury smirked amused.

"Alright, since Romanov is tailing them, I'm hanging up... Damn it Tony this is no laughing matter! Get up before I call your fiance!"

Maria's connection went dead soon after and Romanov told him that she would call him back when she found out where they were going...

Parking her truck to the side of the road, the four climbed out of it and began to trek into the forest. Thor seemed to relax as they got under the cover of the trees, the late afternoon sun bleeding into early evening and soon sunset, but at least in the thick forest, Thor could quickly vanish and tail the three to the Path if they do not make it there soon enough. Loki was following the pull of magic, traveling on a fairly straight line until they came to the Great Oak Tree.

"Wait... it's just a tree!" Jane yelled.

"It's more than it seems, Lady Foster." Thor rumbled out, the Hammer thrumming in his hand, excited at the feel of massive power coming from the tree.

"And it's not just a Tree, it is a Nemeton. It is ancient and seeped in magics so old it was practically born of them." Loki told her as he walked up to it and the heart of the trunk brightened up and flashed brilliantly before dulling into a swirl of light.

"We thank you for your hospitality, my Ladies, but we must depart for now. We shall come again."

"You better! We like hanging out with you!" Darcy smiled, "Well I sure as hell do! Oh before I forget! Here!" She pulled something from her bag and handed them to Thor and Loki. They blinked as they were holding in their hands the latest smart phones all set up and active and protected by colorful cases that were silver and red and green and gold in the forms of capes and helmets. "I found the cases at the store and couldn't help it. So Thor get's the Loki Phone Case and Loki get's the Thor Phone Case! Feel free to trade them later, but to unlock them, hit the power buttons or the center button on the phone and type in 1234 you can adjust the settings and locks later. You can call or text me to tell us when you are coming back to give us a heads up if shit goes down!"

"Thank you Lady Lewis." Thor smiled, pocketing his phone as Loki did the same before his eyes flashed and Darcy gasped as a necklace of ice and marble appeared on her neck, a bracelet of similar material on Jane's wrist.

"There, should you ever find your way to our Realms, those in our Clutch shall see you as friends and my people shall see you as my Shield Sisters. You will be welcomed to both our people and our homes. Farewell for now... Thor." Loki called and Thor nodded, turning and jumping through the light as Loki waved one last time and steeped in, a flash appeared and the tree looked normal enough again. Darcy grinned and grabbed Jane's arm, skipping off, unaware of their spies...

Schari sat on his stone throne, eyes closed in thought, humming tunelessly until a projection of Baron Strucker appeared before him. At his side The Other spoke to him, walking about him in the creeping manner they were wont to do.

"Why have you contacted us?" They hissed.

"We've obtained the Tesseract and one of my best spies has seen a pair of men disappear into a tree... This is their image."

They watched as the man held up photos of the two men, One blonde, rugged and stupid, the other thin, raven haired and striking. Schari stood up abruptly, walking like a phantom to the projection and leaning down to stare closely at the pretty one before his eyes brightened.

"Lord Malekith shall be pleased to learn we've found tJotunheim's greatest treasure..." he purred lowly. "You're people will keep an eye out for him and you will capture him alive and unharmed, for the most part... He's powerful, a being of magic, do not be fooled by his soft appearance..."

"Oh? Then I shall inform my men to keep their eyes and ears open and at the earliest chance, we shall retrieve him." Strucker promised, cool and confident.

"Good... However," The Other suddenly grabbed the Projection by the throat and Schari knew the human could feel their grip crushing his fragile neck as The Other hissed lowly, "fail us and there will be no crevice too dark, no abyss too deep and no place far away enough for Us to find you and make you wish for death... The Treasure of Jotunheim MUST be treated more fragile than your infants! If the Treasure is harmed, We will remove your sex organs and feed them to our King!"

Schari smiled cruelly, his father was not a kind being and would be more than happy to watch this pathetic creature perish slowly and painfully. And then the projection was gone and The Other turned to float off to their shrine, humming in olden tongues, bobbing in a trance like state. Sitting down in his throne again, he grabbed a device that Malekith gave him and activated it. The Dark Elf appeared before him, the astral hologram was slightly discolored, but over all it was almost as if he stood physically there.

"Lord Malekith, I believe I've found what you have been seeking and he has changed his appearance."

"Ooh?" Malekith purred, pleased. "Where?"

"He was on Midgard, but if the Jotun is as crafty as the woman who birthed him, then he has gone into hiding once more. However I have a feeling he will not remain in hiding for too long..."

"Good, I was foolish in believing his mother was dead, but it seems she is not all she appears to be... Faking her death to make me free her, but still the Ice King is free and the other Princes are wandering free. I've shown you what the look like, should you come across them, capture them, my future Queen will not fight if you have the right leverage..." Malekith grinned cruelly.

"Of course... My slave's people has the Tesseract in their hands and have started on making a portal to allow the invasion of Midgard." Schari almost purred.

"Wonderful... And seeing as I've scattered the rest of the Realms, no one will save the Mortals." Malekith chuckled. "We shall get in contact again when you have either invaded Midgard or have captured my Queen."

Schari bowed low and astral projection dissipated. Once he was sure of being alone he stood and left the room and after traveling through the large palace he came to a much larger throne room and pushed the doors open and entering. After crossing the massive hall, he dropped to a knee before his king and father.

"The plan is in motion, my lord. The Other is keeping close watch of our Slaves and the Invasion should begin soon enough." Schari reported.

"Excellent..." The King rumbled out like a dormant Volcano. "And yet you seem to have more to say, boy."

"Lord Thanos... Father, Lord Malekith of the Dark Elves has finally shown us a weakness to exploit... The Juton Prince, the youngest one, is a being powerful magics and is lost somewhere in the Nine Realms."

"I care why?"

"I've seen him, father, in a clever glamour, but he is a beauty beyond compare... He looked like the Norn Speaker..." Schari risked a smile.

"Ohh? And what does the old Elf want with the Prince?" Thanos hummed.

"To make him his Queen... and there is something else, I do not know it yet, but I believe he is after more than a warm cunt to fuck."

"For now we will play his allies and attack beasts, but the moment he drops his guard, we will slay him and if this Prince is as pleasing as you say, you may keep him... assuming I do not wish to do so..." Thanos laughed as Schari nodded and stood, leaving the throne room. "What else is there for the old bastard to want?"


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Upon setting foot in Asgard once more, Thor and Loki found their horse grazing on sweet grass and drinking from a stray stream of water. Mounting it, they rode home, lost in their thoughts. Their welcome to Lilithorn was warm and the greeting from their Clutch was somewhat painful with bone grinding hugs and friendly punches to Thor's broad shoulders. No one dared to strike Loki least Thor maim them. It was obvious everyone was dying to hear the tales of the pairs adventure, but were trying to at least them rest and acclimate themselves back into the routine of the Clutch. But that evening while sitting around a roaring fire in the front yard, wild boar meat and deer chunks slow roasting over the licking flames, pots and pans resting on coals or on metal stands being tended as vegetables and rice were cooked, stew and tea slowly bubbling as well.

"Where did you vanish to?" Frandral asked.

"Yes, what did you see?" Sif wondered.

"We found our way to Midgard after seeing the BiFrost." Thor stated, biting into a raw flank of venison. No one batted an eyelash, though some looked either at the fire or to Loki to avoid feeling mildly ill from the sight.

"Midgard!?" Everyone gasped.

"Did you use-" Frigga began, but Thor cut her of, with a raised hand.

"Loki found a natural path. Similar to the one that led him from Jotunheim here to Asgard. We did not venture near the Golden City." Thor promised her.

"We found ourselves in a forest, tall trees old and rich with life. We saw the Midgardians and it seems that from the last time anyone has ever set foot on the Realm they have advanced from stone and crude metal tools to refined, complicated machines, but also they now lack the respect they once had for the earth and its bounty." Loki snorted, recalling the Humans who had been trying to destroy the forest which was owned by another and without their permission.

"We journeyed to a road when I was struck by a metal dragon!" Thor stated proudly, making everyone gape, Jalan snorted at the absurd thought of a dragon made of metal.

"It is called a Truck, Thor. A horseless carriage that drives itself." Loki simplified and got mystified looks of awe. He conjured up an image of it from his memory.

The scene played out, Thor one moment walking a step or three before Loki and then suddenly something large and painted a ruddy red slammed into Thor, who stood up a few moments later after two Midgardian women stepped out of the truck.

"These are the Ladies Jane Foster, a doctor, though not one of medicine and Darcy Lewis, a strange creature, but most fascinating. She seemed to be the most helpful to us." Loki indicated each woman. "They have been adopted into the Clutch by Thor and I have marked them as Shield Maids of the Jotun Army. Should they ever need our aid, we will lend it to them." Loki dropped the image and smiled as he and Thor spoke of the many strange things they saw, the many machines that the humans have made to simplify their lives, but sadly have further made them lazy and in some cases fat.

Thor pulled up the war hammer he found, speaking of the strange call he felt and his battle with the Midgardians to retrieve Mjolnir. Frigga looked shocked as she stared at it and then she stood and shakily touched it.

"This was on Midgard?" she breathed.

"Yes, mother." Thor told her, not liking the paleness of her face or the grim lines that suddenly appeared. "Do you know where she came from?"

"Yes... many years ago, before either your or young Loki were born there was a war between Asgard and Jotunheim. One of many wars, but it was the last one for not only did the AllFather take the Casket of Eternal Winters from the Jotun people, he took the Thunder Hammer from them as well. He kept both locked in his Vault, a place so full of magic and traps, it is impossible for anyone to sneak in and steal anything. He keeps all his war trophies in there, even some of his Hunting trophies..."

Jalan went stiff at this and looked somewhere between mournful and outraged.

"The AllFather..." Loki suddenly sounded how Jalan felt. "One-Eyed Ogre Odin... He led a mass genocide of all Jotuns, regardless if the other races of Jotunheim had done nothing to him. Innocent lives were ended, our Life Givers, young children... My brothers Dam. My Great Grandfather caused the war and yet those of us born much later have to suffer. Without the Casket my people, all people, are slowly wasting away. The weather grows increasingly unstable. My mother, for a time acted as a replacement Knot. Stabilized the Telluric Currents of our Realm and siphoned as much of the natural Magic of our realm to allow us a handful of years to try and prepare for the inevitable."

Frigga sighed, "I sometimes question what it is I ever saw in him..."

"Mother?"

"Odin, the AllFather and King of the Nine Realms, he is your father... and it was because of him that you are the way you are." She stated simply, but with all the conviction he ever needed to fully understand the animosity between his mothers, his mother's adamant refusals to allow him anywhere too near the Golden City and therefor closer to his father. "If Mjolnir found her way to you, it is because she is meant to be yours. Odin's Vault may prevent theft, he did not think that perhaps the items he has stolen from the Realms would not find their way Home or to someone who would take them Home."

"Does he know that Mjolnir is missing?" Loki wondered.

"It is possible, unless he sent her to find Thor... Even with Idun and her Golden Apples, he cannot live forever. The only constants in any life time is-"

"Death and Chaos... and their advocates." Loki chuckled suddenly. "My mother... she's always said she was somewhat immortal in the sense that as long as she had purpose Chaos would not left her die, but I wish that were true now..."

"I'm curious as to why the Dark Elves attacked Jotunheim when the Casket and the Thunder Hammer were long since stolen from the Realm." Frigga subtly ordered.

"I do not know. My bodyguards, before they gave their lives for me told me that my mother said something about the Infinity Stones-"

"What!? Malekith intends to gather them!?" Frigga shouted, standing and looking wild eyed.

"How can he gather that which has been lost for many millennia?" Loki wondered, fingering the bracelet his mother gave him, the simple silver band with the six colorful stones in it a comfort now that he no longer felt her. "To have any hope whatsoever of finding even a rumor of where a Stone could be, he would-"

And suddenly it all made sense, the attack, the destruction of an already dying people! His plans to capture the royal family, all to force his mother to tell him even an inkling of where he could find the Stones! And like that a white hot rage bled into his vision, his skin melting to his Jotun flesh and the cup of tea in his hand suddenly burst into frozen glass shards as the area around him turned such a blistering cold temperature that everyone near him flinched away above average frostbite burns, though not as terrible as the necrotizing frostbite that would happen should Loki touch someone. Even Thor had to flinch away from him, hissing low as the fine hairs on his arm were frosted over, the skin tinged a bright purplish blue.

Frigga ordered everyone away from Loki, seeing the Frostling's shaking increase to near violent levels as red on red eyes snapped open, fanged teeth bared and finally Loki let out a war cry worthy of his much bigger siblings and kinsmen. The air crackled with the residual magic that swirled around him, whipping his hair loose from his braid. And then as suddenly as the fit began, it died and Loki sat back down on the iced over and dead log, snow and ice around his feet as ice formed around his body in menacing spiked armor. It took a few breaths before the young prince banished the armor, relaxed his tense and thrumming body, the magic wisping away like vapors. Once a semblance of calm enveloped him, Loki took on his Midgardian flesh once more, but the red remained in his eyes as frost everyone once and a while wisped up and flaked off his arms.

"Forgive me... I don't know what came over me..." Loki apologized, but somehow it was both sincere and hallow.

"I believe you needed it." Jalan hummed out, smiling in approval of her son's Gem. "It has been sitting there since you felt the connection to your mother vanish, it has been waiting for release and all who has heard should heed the warning least they cross your path..."

"Jalan! He is not you!" Frigga snarled out, slapping the Demonss on the back of the head.

The two older women glared at one another and Thor growled lowly.

"You will excuse yourselves if you plan to fuck again..." He told them, glaring at Jalan more than his mother since he knew Jalan liked to pounce his mother whenever, wherever the mood strikes her. Frigga at least grabbed the Demoness by the tail or hair and dragged her to their shared room.

"Mother Frigga is correct. I am not like you Jalan... I do not allow blind rage to control me... I know who it is who has caused me pain and suffering. And the miserable pestilence is going rue the day he decided to hunt my family down..." Loki growled out. "Hmm, I wonder if it is possible to freeze his cock and rip it off without killing him..."

Everyone stepped away from him at that comment as a sudden bright and gleeful smile spread across his face. Thor purred lowly at the heady scent of bloodlust and something akin to arousal, moving to sit close to Loki once more, he smiled when Loki flopped into his side, snuggling close as he hummed happily and little dementedly to himself, most likely imagining all the possible ways he could torture his mother's murderer without killing him too quickly.

"Well... I guess our little Prince isn't all snow and frost..." Frandral laughed.

"If he is going to hunt down the unlucky sod, I will be more than happy to aid him." Hogun nodded.

"Mmm, I wonder if Jotuns have victory Feasts..." Voltstagg mused, his own way of agreeing to help a friend in need.

"Tell me who to hunt and I'll bring his head back on a plate of gold." Sif smirked.

"Alright, alright..." Frigga laughed softly. "If and when Loki needs our aid, he has it, but it is nearly sundown. Inside."

Everyone quickly gathered up their things, but stopped when Thor told them all to remain, he wanted to bond more. Unsure who to follow, the others looked to the Queen, who seemed to be looking him over critically before she nodded slowly.

"Remain as you were..." she told them, moving to sit on her stool as Jalan got comfortable once more on the ground, her head resting on Frigga's lap, stroking her leg suggestively.

Loki seemed to come out of his thoughts then because he leaned away from Thor only a moment as the man began to change with the last fading ray of sunlight until only a beast remained and it looked around, sniffing and huffing before it laid down and allowed its mate to lean on its side once more.

"The children may come lay on him if they please." Loki told them and snuggled close as Thor nuzzled his head a moment, a chuff leaving him as if a laugh before he got comfy and laid his head down. The children slowly approached and with some encouragement for Loki, they settled around Thor who wiggled to accommodate them, sniffing and nosing them as they all curled up on him and once they were all settled, Loki leaned on his shoulder and about to doze off, Thor laid his head down on Loki's lap and soon they were all asleep...

Four days, that is how long it took for Odin to finally realize that one his greatest treasure's has been missing and to come look for it. Four days was all it took for the two rulers of the Clutch to come face to face with the bastard who ruined their lives. Four days for Thor to finally see the sack of flesh that aided in creating him. Loki was out at the market, trading some of the treats his mother had taught him to make for whatever the Clutch needed or wanted. The children were all playing by the fountain where mothers were gathered with the wash. Today was a fine day for everyone to out and about. Thor and the other men were all reinforcing the roofs and outer walls of all the buildings because soon the storm season would begin and it would be impossible to fix anything until it ended.

Loki had sensed the immense power at the same moment Thor's head snapped up from his work, a loud roar ripping from his lips at the unfamiliar scents invading his lands. Everyone stopped what they were doing, to look toward the sole road in and out of town. Loki felt on edge as he saw far off on the road a stream of glittering gold moving toward them.

"Loki!" Sif shouted from where she was in the Smithy's repairing some their cookery. "Get her Ladyship!"

He nodded, Sif's mother coming to man his stall as he turned into a fox and raced off for the manor. He jumped onto the front porch, changing back into a man just as Jalan opened the door.

"Someone with immense power is approaching and whoever it is, Thor is not pleased that they are here... They are dressed in Gold." He told her quickly.

"Odin..." Frigga growled as she came out of the house, dressed in her best dress, her armor and weapons in place as she turned to Jalan who jumped into the air, changing into dragon form and flying off ahead of them as Frigga closed and locked the doors. "Come..."

He followed her back into town where the small unit of soldiers stood by the water fountain on one side and Thor with the men of the Clutch on the other. Jalan's roar made everyone look up at her ans she landed on the roof of the church, hanging off one side of it with one wing and her hind legs anchoring her in place, her tail whipping about in annoyance, her head handing off the front, swaying like a snakes as her golden eyes stared at the unwanted guests, ready to roast them alive at any moment. When she spotted Odin, she snorted, he's aged quite a bit since she last saw him. He looked too old and frail, but she did not dare to attack, he had Gungnir in his hands still.

When Frigga made it to Thor's side, Loki hidden among their Clutch, Sif at his side, ready to flee with him at the first perceived threat. If Odin has not realized a Jotun was in his realm, they wished to keep it that way, the less attention upon Loki the better.

"Why are you here, Odin One-Eye?" Frigga's cold voice sliced the air with the speed and sharpness of a throwing dagger.

"You look wonderful, Wife." Odin ignored her question in turn to run his blue eye up and down his wife's figure. Still young and fit, even without Idun's help. "You have not returned to the Palace."

"Of course not!" She hissed. "Why would I return to that gilded cage!? Why would I return to you, faithless dog?"

"Enough!" He slammed Gungnir's end into the ground, an echoing clap following.

"This is my home, you will not order me about here!" Frigga snarled out, furious and ready to stab out his other eye. She was not blind to him looking her over, as if he still had a right to look at her to touch her! Hah, when Jalan grows a cock. "Now answer me! Why have you come, Ogre!?"

"I am the AllFather-"

"And I am the AllMother!" She snapped back, the air tense and sizzling between the two rulers of the Nine realms, but then Odin backed off and submitted. "You forget, Odin... you may be King of all, but I am the advocate of the Norns and they are above you."

The chilling words stung deep and Odin frowned at his wife, "Something was stolen from my Vault. I came to see if you could tell me who the thief was."

"Why would I aid you?" she demanded, sneering at him. He spoke as if he knew she was here this whole time and now, when he needed something from her, is when he comes to her, not at any other point in the last few thousands of years.

"Because the thieves will be hunted down and severely punished." He informed her. "I have a suspision that they were Jotuns."

Everyone of the Clutch growled, glaring at the strangers. How dare they!

"And why would Jotuns steal from you?" She wondered, coolly and calmly, even as she wished to cut out his wagging tongue.

"To steal the Casket of course, you daft woman!" He snapped.

"And yet, was the Casket stolen?" Frigga wondered.

"No... in fact the Golem has not been awakened." Odin grumbled.

"Then... how do you know it was Jotuns?" she wondered. "And if not the Casket then what was stolen? You have more treasures than the Casket that is powerful and worth more than the realms!"

"The Hammer." he told her, expecting to see shock or fear in her eyes.

"The one stolen from the Storm Giants? The relic they were waiting to bestow upon the new King of the Nine Realms? That Hammer?"

"They were not going to give it to me! They were going to use it to destroy us!" Odin roared at her.

Loki shook with rage from where he was hidden, glaring at the old fool who he had heard horror stories of since he was a babe, the true monster that would devour your without thinking twice, stealing away your children from their beds, murdering hundreds and thousands because he could... Loki was disappointed with the Man behind the Legend. Vaguely he could hear his mother, voice warbled and slurred from too much drink, calling Odin a warn out old hound with more bark than bite. She would sing insulting ballads to his fame and honor, spin tales of the AllFather's less than glorious adventures and quests. And seeing the man now, hearing her voice in his head, Loki could see there was much more truth to the drunken nonsense his mother had spewed, often to the delight of his people and especially his father's amusement.

And how dare he assume that the gift his distant cousins worked for millennia to craft and forge, breathe life and magic into it, giving it a will of its own and power that has yet to meet an equal, was for him! No, if what Frigga says is true, the Hammer that Thor found belongs to him. His wonderful lover was the future King of the Nine Realms, he wanted to laugh at the utter ridiculousness of the irony for it was not lost on him. He avoided arranged marriages to all forms of royals and yet he falls for the Golden Prince!

"No, Odin, that Hammer is not yours and you had no right to take it!" Frigga growled back. Jalan let out a fierce roar that matched the fury of her Golden Mate. "Shut up, you! This is between me and him!"

Thor growled low, glaring at the old man who sired him. He could see in the proud and somewhat still fit form of the King the once tall, broad body of a warrior, fit and hale. But peace, feasts and time has made him old and soft. Maybe if he was lucky, his mother would grant him permission to tear the old bastard to pieces. He had no attachments to the man who helped create him, seeing as it was his fault that he lived like this, but then he supposed he should thank him, since without Odin's folly, Thor would have never met Loki under such peaceful conditions. Well as peaceful as devouring several elves and killing the others for fun could be.

"I see the Dragon still lives." Odin sniffed. "You've lost your touch, wife."

"I am not your wife!" she spat. "And I have not lost my touch, Ogre... simply ask the graveyard to the west of here... I'm sure the spirits will attest what happens when you mess with me and my people."

Thor purred, while the majority of their 'cemetery' was contributed to by himself and Jalan, his mother has added quite a few bodies of her own. Andwhere he and Jalan had claws and fangs, Frigga had her daggers and she was much more brutal than they are. The sound seemed to draw Odin's attention to him and his smirk fell into a frown, his blue eyes meeting the single blue of the AllFather. Frigga went stiff as son and father met for the first time, but then she relaxed when Thor snorted in distaste.

"This is the one who mated you before Mother Jalan?" He rumbled out.

"Sadly yes." Frigga sighed before putting on a cold but charming smile. "Odin, I'd like you to meet your son, Thor. Baby boy, this is the shriveled cock I fucked to make you."

Loki coughed, trying to hide his laugh because seriously Frigga was just a blonde Vanir version of his mother! And apparently his mother lied to him, she told him babies came from crystal seeds that grew into large plants that when ready opened to reveal the baby for the expecting parents.

Thor turned his head only slightly, smiling at Loki from the corner of his eye, happy his mate was amused.

"Frigga-"

"Do shut up, Odin... if you must know where your stolen trinket went, it found its rightful master." She huffed, waving a hand dismissively, not at all caring or in a mood to deal with him, she will never be in the mood to deal with him again.

"It's impossible for it to get up and walk off on its own!" Odin snapped.

"Actually, it is very possible." Thor mused aloud. "It is a Relic, made in ancient times and seeped in aeons of magic making it as powerful as some of the treasures of the realms... Such as the Casket of Eternal winters, a simple box to some with the powers of the water elementals and their various forms. It grew so powerful over the ages and became sentient, it controlled the weather and natural flow of Jotunheim and with it now gone, the realm has fallen into chaos and eventually all who reside there will succumb to death. I'm sure if you wait a few more years, the Casket will learn a means to return home to where it belongs because it certainly does not belong here or to you."

Frigga preened, Thor rarely displayed his book smarts, but when he did, he delivered with such sass and charm most of the time one does not realize he is insulting them until it is too late.

"I am your father, you will respect me, boy!"

"I care not who you are. You did not raise me, have done no right by me or my half sisters, why should I respect you when you have earned none of it?" Thor growled.

Sif snarled low too as did 11 other women.

"If your mother did not steal you away-"

"You had plenty of opportunity to stop me from leaving, hell you could have followed and stolen him back, but you never once followed us, didn't bother to see if we lived or died. You choose now to come, when something you deemed yours has liberated itself from your clutches and you came to find who did it so you would have an excuse to cause war once more, to finish what you started long ago." Frigga hissed. "Genocide."

"The Jotuns invaded Midgard-"

"And were tossed out on their ear by the Midgardians." Loki snapped, tired and annoyed by the old man. It was like watching the old warriors who sat on his father's council. All piss and vinegar, no balls or bite.

"Who dares!?"

"I dare." Loki stepped out from behind Frigga and Odin blinked looking him over, a frown on his face before he scoffed.

"You're Aesir, boy, you should know our history!"

"I'm not Aesir. I'm Midgardian." Loki smirked. "Mortals are not as weak and helpless as you seem to think we are. We embrace our short lives and frail bodies, enjoy each day we live and each moment we spend with our loved ones. But we are not always perfect, we have our share of monsters and horrors."

Odin gaped but then he sneered, scoffing as he turned to Frigga, "If the Jotuns did not steal it, where is the Hammer!?"

"Thor..." Frigga smiled as her son stepped forward and held the Hammer up, Mjolnir humming in his grasp, pleased and proud.

"Impossible! I could barely lift it and yet he, a mere boy holds it as if it weighs no more than a stick!" Odin snarled.

"I am one with the storms. I am called Thor because as a babe I could summon fierce thunder storms and rain with my cries. Even now the storm comes at my call and with my dear iron lady, the storms will be more than just a display of power, they will be my wings, my sword and shield. And I will use them to protect my family... If you wish to have her back, then by all means, fight me for her... I will kill you all before mother has the time to call the undertaker from his shop just three doors down from your left." Thor promised, the said man was standing in his shop door with a bored look as he watched the display before him.

Odin snarled and glared before he scoffed, waving his hand his men turning on heel to march back the way they came. Odin's single eye glared into Thor's blues, then jumped to the bluish greens of his wife, who looked back with an uncaring and bored gaze. And as he turned, his gaze slid to the feverish green eyes of the Midgardian boy. Those eyes were familiar and the longer he held the boy's gaze the more the empty socket of his right eye ached and burned. He was half tempted to go grab the whelp and see into his mind, but the way not only his wife had tensed, his son as well, he knew it would have to wait for another time...


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

For the longest time no one dared to speak or move and then Loki gave a huff.

"I think my people are all idiots if they fear an old boar like him." He sniffed in distaste.

Thor blinked and then he began laughing because Loki has told him how as a child his tutors would terrorize his brothers with stories of Odin to make them behave, unfortunately Loki was also caught in those punishments because his brothers loved to tote him around with them everywhere. Frigga snorted a laugh as well and soon everyone was laughing.

"Oh that was a good one..." Sif snickered, grinning brightly as she looked to Frandral who was patting Hogun's back with a howling laugh.

Hogun just chuckled quietly as Voltstagg gave a soft laugh of his own, not nearly as amused as Fradral.

"Oh he is rich!" Sif grinned. "Now then if we have nothing else to worry about, Loki come tell me more of this Lady Darcy."

"Oh, why so interested in she?" Frandral queried.

"That is my business and mine alone." Sif sneered at him. "Besides I want to also know more about the strange devices she gifted to Thor and Loki."

Thor chuckled as he pulled out his phone, clad in the green and gold case. Frandral snatched it from him, amazed by it and curious as well, passing it to the others as well. Jalan, after flying off after Odin and his men to make sure they had truly left their lands, took it from Hogun and looked it over, sniffing it and frowning at the casing.

"It is a rock, useless and cheap." She stated.

"Actually, Lady Jalan. It is not." Loki said, pulling his own phone from his side pouch and tapped on the surface twice to wake it up. They didn't worry about finding an outlet to charge it since all Loki and Thor had to do was hold the devices near Mjolnir's crown and the hammer sent small jolts into them to instantly recharge the batteries.

Sif squeaked in excitement as she watched Loki swipe his thumb in a seemingly random pattern on the bubble to unlock his phone. Thor had typed in a number lock to open his and he happily showed Frandral and Voltsagg, Jalan hovering over his shoulder as well, what he figured out about the device and even the numerous texts Darcy sent to both him and Loki on how to use the phones and set it up.

"You can speak instantly with them and not be near one another?! Amazing..." Sif gasped.

Loki nodded his head and chuckled when Sif and several others all jumped when the phone in his hand began to ring loudly. He swiped his thumb on the accept call button and brought it up to his hear.

"Hello?" He spoke and could hear Jane's frantic voice practically screaming down the line. "Lady Jane- what do you mean your friend has been kidnapped? What!? What do you mean that- JANE!"

Everyone startled at Loki's sudden bellow, but it seemed to have the desired affect on the person on the other end of the phone.

"Now please calmly explain to me what you meant by Dr. Selvig going missing and that Son of Coul and his people had the Tesseract in their hands before it was stolen?"

Frigga looked shocked as Loki listened intently, his green eyes catching with Thor's the man using the swipe feature to send rapid texts to Darcy to get her understanding on what was happening. He kept his phone one the lowest volume seeing as he could hear it fine no matter if he was sleeping or not. Loki hadn't changed his volume setting seeing as he mostly texted Darcy and nothing else on the device.

"I understand, Lady Jane... However if the Son of Coul truly wishes to speak with Thor and I, we will let you know when to meet up with us, but we cannot come right away. Do not worry or misunderstand, we will help you rescue your friend, but I need to speak with someone who knows more about the Tesseract than I do. Thor or I will contact you soon... Please go calm yourself and if you must, go beat a few of Coul's men." Loki suggested and after a few moments of Jane rambling and agreeing, he hung up.

"Loki?"

"None of this is pure coincidental... Having a mother like mine, you learn there is no such thing as coincidence. Every random happening, hiccups or unexpected event in our lives are all planned for, arranged by Chaos and Death, the two oldest Dieties, to keep life flowing forward, to keep the realms and beyond all in balance." Loki mused aloud, eyes darting about left and right, following something only his eyes could see.

As he stood there, his phone in his left hand, his right played with the bracelet his mother gave him, his finger running over the blue gem as he thought of the Tesseract.

"As an Agent of Chaos, mother is not an ordinary mortal... the fact she survived on Jotunheim for so many years attests to her strength and power... She bore me, too large for a mortal but too small for a Jotun babe..." He hummed. "She's told me stories, many stories, the Six Infinity Stones were given to her ancestors throughout history and each one has hidden the stone presented to them somewhere meant to be left undiscovered and forgotten with their deaths... She would always tell me, 'Hidden in the earth and in the furthest reaches of space are the Six, but our ancestors are no fools. For there is no better hiding spot than in plain view.' But that's the one thing I never understood. If the stones are hidden in plain view... Where are they?"

"You are the son of Chaos's Advocate, I'm sure you will know in time." Frigga smiled at him, petting his hair. "So if the real Infinity Stones are hidden in plain view, then what are the ones hidden?"

"Fakes, powerful fakes, but fakes never the less. They could generate an unlimited amount of power if used properly, but those who get their hands on them seldom practice self restraint." Loki snorted. "They would burn out the fakes and thankfully nothing dangerous will happen, but that just means that they would continue to hunt for the stones and since my mother is gone, they would come for me and I know nothing..."

"Loki..." Thor grabbed his face in his hands, pressing their foreheads together so his icy blue eyes bore into icy emerald greens of Loki. "You know more than you are aware of. Do not stress yourself out... You will figure it out, like mother says, it is only a matter of time."

"Time is not something we have the luxury of, Thor... Jane said something worrying... the ones who kidnapped Dr. Selvig... a fellow human and two strange insect creatures." Loki shivered, his gaze unfocused and then snapped back to look into Thor's calm eyes. "I think I know what they are and if I'm correct, the whole of Midgard is in danger. And if Midgard falls, then the other Realms will follow... Thor my people cannot and will not survive another war."

"Then... we shall go speak with the Son of Coul and offer our services..."

"We are going with you!" The Warriors and Sif shouted, stepping forward. "We will not let yo two take all the glory and who knows we might find out a clue to has happened to your family!"

Loki looked somewhere between protesting and wanting to hug them. He settled for calling them fools and the all grinned happily at him, claiming that they were his fools!

"Loki..." Frigga smiled softly as she kissed his temple. "You and Thor will figure everything out, you will always have one another. You are not alone, you do not face this trail by fire without aid. Jalan and I will keep things safe here and I think it is time we all begin actively looking for the scattered remains of the Jotun people, they are welcomed within our Clutch!"

"Hmm, they do have very lovely gems... perhaps they will give me some?" Jalan mused, looking hungry.

"If and when this is all over, whatever is happening on Midgard and with the Dark Elves, I will personally bring you into the Vaults of my peoples treasures and you may take a plump boar's weight of our treasures." Loki promised her.

She grinned brightly, boars were her favorite meals and they were often heavy creatures and to have one's weight in treasure!?

"If not for my mating to my Golden Mate and my darling child's possessiveness of you, I'd keep you to myself, you precious little pearl!" She cooed, hugging him tightly, ignoring Thor's growl of displeasure.

"You mentioned speaking to someone... who was it?" Thor asked.

"The Gate Keeper of the BiFrost..." Loki stated. "And since Odin now knows we are here and does not seem to give two figs and goose that Thor is here, it is safe for us to travel to the Golden City."

"Yes, this is true..." Frigga nodded, pulling Jalan off of Loki by her hair. "Do be careful regardless of the matter."

"Of course... This is a trip I wish to make alone if you do not mind." Loki stated, a subtle order in his tone that Thor dared not disobey even if he was displeased.

"I will wait for you on the beach." Thor promised him.

Loki nodded and with that everyone broke up and went about their business once more...

Riding down the BiFrost was amazing and a bit disconcerting. The rushing water of the ocean/lake that surrounded the whole of Asgard and led off into a drop into the void of space. Loki was not worried of drowning, he was a good swimmer, but the pull of the water was much more powerful than any being could handle and if was caught in the current that led to the drop? He did not wish to think of that, but then again he only had to worry if he fell from the bridge.

As the hub got closer, Loki felt his heart racing in his chest, his hands sweating and his stomach swarming with an angry army of moths! Heimdall was his godfather and this was the first time he would ever be meeting the man. His mother told him he was a tall man, broad and dressed in gold. He stands guard always, never sleeping never taking more than but a handful of minutes to eat a simple and quick meal and to take of his other needs. His father had high respect and fear of the man, many of the warriors spoke Heimdall's name with reverence, much like the AllMother. His horse stopped outside of the Hub and standing at the top of the stairs was a man in gold a large sword held I his firm hands, its tip aimed down to the floor, the light of the sun casting a rainbow glare over the silver blade. The man himself was dark skinned, a nice healthy deep earth tone, his hair was black, his eyes as gold as sunlight and he stared unblinkingly.

"Welcome, Treasure of Jotunheim, Flower of the Frost Giants, Son of Laufey, Heir of the Lady Rhyg." The man greeted, his voice low and rumbling, but warm and kind. "My godson, come let me see you."

Loki dismounted and slowly walked up the steps and when he stood on the last step, he realized he was almost the same height as Heimdall, his goatee was clean and trim. His lips were large for a man, but not obscenely so, in fact they would look wonderful smiling, if the man ever smiled that is.

"I do smile... but only on occasion."

"Mind reader." Loki chuckled, amused.

"A wonderful gift from my mothers. However I often wish to mute it. Same as my farseeing gaze." Heimdall smiled, small and kind. "You look so much like your mother... I sensed her power vanish and have searched for her, but your godmother, Seren, has assured me we have little worry about."

"What do you mean?" Loki asked, confused. "Auntie?"

"Yes, my wife..." He chuckled, a nice rich sound. "As Advocates of the Creators, they are given a unique gift that often causes them more trouble than it is worth. I do know what it is exactly but from what she has told me, Chaos and Death never pace the titles of Advocates, Agents, Messengers over until the current Agents have completed their task."

"So... it is possible... even if the slimmest of chances, that mother's... she's alive?" Loki gasped, tears welling into his eyes.

"The slimmest, Loki, the slimmest, but I rather give you this bit of hope than continue to see you sink into further depression." Heimdall, nodded his head. "I cannot say for certain for I am not an Advocate. And Seren is away on another mission for her God and will not be able to tell you. However if it turns out that Rhyg is truly gone, you can expect to have her title passed to you. You are more like her than you think."

"I'm sure. Father and my brothers?"

"Alive. In hiding. I've lost sight of your father, but I know he is alive for your mother saved him before she vanished. Your eldest brother is with the Fire Demons... I think you will soon be called Uncle Loki... or Aunt Loki, depending on how you wish to be addressed." Heimdall smirked knowingly, his golden gaze moving the tiniest bit to a point of Loki's shoulder. "Your second eldest brother has gathered your people to rebuild Ymir's Keep, they are preparing for war for they want all of you back safe and sound."

"Oh thank the Norns..." Loki sobbed with relief, but then he paused. "What!?"

"Helblindi seems to have fallen for the young Fire King, Lucian..." Heimdall mused. "He's slowly rounding with child with each day, he's worried and panicked, but he seems happy, he tells his belly of you and your other brother, of your parents and the many things he wishes to show to the child."

"Brother is with child!?" He smiled brightly and couldn't help jumping and clapping his hands before he stopped, coughed into his fist, ignoring the blush on his cheeks. "Then I had best find the Dark Elves plans and put an end to them. I want my nephew to live in a world of peace!"

Heimdall nodded, turning to walk into the hub, "Come, Loki, we have much to discuss..."

Meanwhile on Earth, Jane stared at her phone for the longest time, almost willing it to ring, but then she sighed, set it down and sat down in the chair waiting for her.

"Loki says he needed to talk to someone before he called me back..." She said finally.

"And you believe him?" Coulson asked.

"Yes." She glared at him. "He and Thor have been nothing but kind to us during their brief stay. I see no reason to think he's lying to me. And if you don't believe me, ask Darcy. She texts them almost every 15 minutes."

Said young woman looked up, "Huh? Sorry did you say something?"

"What are you doing?" Coulson asked, watching her go back to furiously typing on her phone.

"Chatting with Thor... He's grumpy because Loki had to go do something alone and its been barely an hour since his dickbag of a father came to demand shit from his mom. Looks like our legends aren't as true as we think... apparently Frigga doesn't put up with Odin's shit, in fact she left him and his lying cheating ass." She blabbed easily enough, still texting away. "Ah, he says that they will be leaving in three days their time... Don't know how long that is here, but expect something magical or anti-climatic to happen within the next few days."

"... She's serious right?" Coulson asked Jane, who nodded.

"Very."

He sighed as he grabbed a file and began to read and write in it. Moments later the door to the interrogation room opened and in stepped Director Fury.

"Coulson."

"Director." He nodded his head, closing the file and handing it to him. "She's spoken to Loki and they agreed to meet with us, however they will not be here for a few days their time, whatever that means."

"Oh and Thor gets cranky from time to time, so like... avoid making him mad." Darcy chirped, Jane paling at the mention of Thor being 'cranky.'

"We will do our best. Now then, I'd like to introduce you to a few people who will be in charge of locating and rescuing Dr. Selvig..." Fury waved his hand to the group that entered the room just then. "This is Agent Barton, Capt. Rogers, Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner. Agent Romanov is busy with a mission, but she is also on this team."

"Cool.. so like is this like the Justice League?" Darcy wondered, referring to a comic series she's currently reading.

"In short? Yes, but unlike your comic book, Ms. Lewis, this is real life and in real life the consequences are dire." Coulson confirmed.

"I know that, Coulson. I just want to make sure that I understand what this is so I can tell Thor and Loki... Oh, Thor is asking if you will be provide poptarts?" She chuckled as she swiped a reply back to him, only to get an emoji in return. "So yeah, I kinda got the big guy hooked on poptarts, he's fine eating anything and everything, but he seems to think of them as food of the Gods."

Jane chuckled, recalling the man eating an entire box on his own and still being hungry, Loki had tried them, liked a few of the flavors, but overall didn't care for them, but the second she mentioned pudding? She could only compare his reaction to a cokehead getting their fix after so damn long.

"Might wanna stock up on both the poptarts and pudding then. Something tells me that Loki has a thing for pudding and will not hesitate to remove body parts to get to it." Jane mused.

"I'm both curious and a bit disturbed by this..." Tony laughed, typing on his phone to Jarvis to please stock up on the two treats for their newest guests/teammates.

"For now we will wait for Loki and Thor to contact us." Fury told them, "Stark."

"I got rooms for everyone and converted few floors into a mini SHIELD HQ. I've also had your belongings gathered and moved into your rooms, ladies... I hope you do not mind that." Tony shrugged. "Jarvis."

"Yes, sir?" The elegant voice of the AI spoke up.

"Please make sure our friends are all comfy and send those papers Pep wanted me to go over to her. I signed the ones I approve of, left some notations on the ones I don't like. Oh and make sure that Capsicle's partner in crime doesn't smash his way into the building again..."

"Yes sir." Jarvis said before Tony left for his lab, the others offering to take the girls to their rooms and to get settled in. Steve blushing as Tony's snarky comment...

A week or two had passed when suddenly Darcy's phone started playing a choir and rock band mash up of Ride of the Valkyries. She jumped up from her bed to grab it and smiled.

"Darcy speaking!" She chirped.

"Hello Lady Darcy, Loki and I will be arriving at your location shortly, could you please stand outside somewhere, we'll be taking a different route to you." Thor's voice came through, sounding like an excited puppy or a child on a sugar rush.

"Uhh, sure... just outside in general or somewhere specific?"

"The balcony will do..." Loki's voice chimed in.

She quickly got on a pair of shoes and rushed passed Natasha, who was just stepping from the shower, dodged around Bruce, who was kinda sprawled out from taking his first hit of weed for the day. It seemed to keep him mellow, still able to access Hulk, but he was lest likely to flip his lid, or so Coulson said. She hurtled over the sofa and Barton and nearly crashed into Tony, but thankfully slid to a stop on the landing deck outside and looked around.

"I'm outside... where-"

She gasped as the clear day suddenly became stormy and cloudy as the clouds formed a funnel of some kind and it began to lazily descend down toward the balcony. It reminded her of a cat stretching out it's front paws. Behind her the others came out and stared in wonder and awe as the clouds finally touched down on the deck and barely a second later, they vanished like a bolt of lightning into the heavens, making the day once again clear and beautiful. To most, nothing abnormal had happened, to those sensitive to the paranormal and supernatural, it was possible they witnessed the strange phenomenon or sensed it. But for those in Stark Tower, they saw it happening and yet had trouble grasping what it is that they just saw.

"Hello again, Lady Darcy." Thor greeted brightly and the brunette snapped out of her daze, running to hug him.

"Yo! That was wicked awesome! What the heck was that!?" She greeted and began pestering.

"The BiFrost." Loki answered, receiving his own enthusiastic hug from her. "We are now permitted to use it, however we will not use it often, it draws too much attention."

"Awesome... oh? You brought friends?" Darcy blinked and looked at the group behind them.

"Allow me to introduce my friends and brothers in arms and my half sister..." Thor waved them forward and smirked as the others looked down at the Midgardian woman. "Frandral the Dashing, Hogun the Grim and Voltstagg the Vast..."

The three men bowed in kind to their names, Darcy bowing her head back and smiling at them before turning to the woman.

"And this is Sif, she is one of the 12 Valkyries, she is the second in command to my eldest sister Skuld." Thor gestured to the female warrior, who stepped up to Darcy and smiled almost as flirtatiously as Frandral when he attempts to woo a blushing maid into his bed for the evening. "She seems to fancy you..."

"Silence, little brother." Sif snapped calmly, never once looking away from Darcy. "The tales they told us hardly do you justice, Lady Darcy."

"That is enough." Loki calmly grabbed Sif's ear and pulled her away from Darcy. "While we are here, you will not flirt your way into anyone's bed... I will lock you in magicked ice chastity belts. And believe me they are not comfortable in the least."

Thor grinned as the others all paled.

"Ah, Loki so mean..." Darcy teased before linking arms with him and pulling him inside. "So let me tell you all that's been going on..."

Thor chuckled as he followed after them, his sister and their friends behind him, all amazed by the strangeness of Midgard and the Midgardians themselves. Jane walked to Thor's side, gave him a smile and then began the second half of the introductions.

"These are the Avengers, some of the best our country has to offer. Agents Romanov and Barton." She waved to the red haired woman with stunning green eyes, she was petite with a luscious figure, she looked them all over with a calculating stare, similar to a serpent about to strike and devour its prey. She hummed when she deemed them worthy or acceptable, they weren't too sure.

"We meet again and I see you do speak English..." Barton mused, smirking at Thor. "No hard feelings about knocking out, big guy?"

"You were doing your job." Thor nodded, his smile just a touch unhinged, "However if you do not wish to lose your fingers, never do so again."

Sif shifted away from Thor, the air around him was simultaneously burning hot and freezing cold. The Warriors Three stepped back as well, wary of Thor's mood and casting searching looks around for Loki. The action was not lost on the others, making them wonder what was going on. Darcy and Jane had only said that Thor was prone to getting cranky, but crankiness did not install fear, did it?

Clint cleared his throat and offered his hand in a friendly shake, "Seeing as we will be working together in the near future, I do not think it will be necessary to knock you out again, unless I'm ordered to do so. And even then, I will make sure to have Loki's permission."

Thor glared at him, taking his hand in a firm grip, just this side of rudely tight and painful. Letting go, he nodded his head and shifted his eyes to the others.

"Capt. Steve Rogers and Mr. Anthony Stark." Jane waved to the the tall blonde and the shorter brunette.

"Huh, you're not what I'd expect the God of Thunder to look like..." Tony mused, looking at the youthful and handsome face to the images of old Norse depictions of the god. "And please call me Tony."

"Lord Stark." Thor nodded his head, smirking in a way that said he did it on purpose to annoy the man.

"Tony, there is only One God." Steve sighed, like it was an age old argument.

"If that is true, then how do you explain what we just saw a few minutes ago and not to mention did you notice none of these people are humanly possible!" Tony argued, gesturing to the Five Aesir warriors and then pointing in the random direction in which Loki vanished too. "And what about Loki!? He's not human either!"

"They could have been made like I was." Steve pointed out.

"We were born, not made." Thor assured him. "You seem to be the leader of this group, but you do not seem to to have their fealty."

"We were just brought together, none of us have worked together before or rather most of us..." Steve sighed.

"Hmm, and this is?" Thor looked to the mousy man, standing shyly to the back.

"Dr. Bruce Banner... He's another one that gets... Cranky." Jane made a vague hand gesture and Banner flinched at that.

"Him?" Frandral hummed. "This would be very interesting to see..."

"He's not as shy as he looks." Voltstagg nodded sagely.

Sif scoffed and scolded the warriors for adding their two cents where it wasn't wanted before she turned to the doctor and smiled at him.

"I'm sure that you are a capable warrior and seeing as you are a doctor, you are proficient in the art of healing?" She wondered.

"I know some... but my studies are more to harnessing energy and turning it into a weapon..." He admitted. "I guess the closest thing I could compare it to your world is a blacksmith of magic..."

Sif looked impressed as did the others.

"We should let him talk with Loki... it'd be interesting to see them create something." Frandral suggested.

Thor chuckled, he could imagine the chaos Loki would unleash with the help of Banner and Stark. Thor suddenly growled low and glared at Coulson, who looked back blankly before leading a man up to him.

"Good to see you again."

"You attempted to touch my Civip Kethend... I should kill you for that."

"Thor!" Loki's sharp tone cracked like a whip making the Aesir jump in their place and turned to him as he and Darcy came back up to them. "Be calm, they wish to be allies, that means they are friends of the Clutch we do not harm our Clutch nor our friends..."

"I do not like him."

"Nor I." Loki nodded in agreement. "However that does not mean we act like spoilt children. Now then go talk to Darcy, she has told me everything and I can handle Son of Coul. And I'm quite sure he does not wish to wake up with one of my serpents in his bed..."

Everyone stared at the black haired man who did not look at all bothered that he just threatened to leave a snake in someone's bed. And by the sounds of it, it wasn't a harmless garden snake either. Thor smiled, pleased and wandered over to Darcy who instantly began chattering as Loki turned to Coulson and Fury.

"Hmm, I will play nice with you as long as you do the same for us. Hurt Thor and I will kill you, hurt me, he will destroy everything. Is that in anyway unclear?" Loki asked them.

"No." Fury assured. "If you will come with me..."

Loki nodded and made a gesture with his hand, the other spreading out to get to know the humans as Loki headed off with Fury and Coulson, waving another hand, casting a spell that allowed Thor and the other four warriors to hear what all was to be said. Thor merely glanced at him, his eyes brightening a moment before turning back to Darcy as she rambled...

"This is an image that we were able to recover from our base of the scepter that Baron Von Strucker used to kidnap Dr. Selvig." Fury said as soon as the door closed behind them, and image appearing before them of a medium length staff made of golden that was tipped with golden spike like claws and clutched in the claws as a blue gem of sorts.

"They took with them the Tesseract." Coulson spoke up, an image of a cube about the size of a desert bowl appeared as well.

Loki rubbed his bracelet, looking at the images, his finger grazing over the gems, rubbing more on the blue one. His mind worked at a rapid pace, memories and stories he's heard racing about. Finally something stuck out.

"The Scepter... It's from a realm beyond the Nine, within its own right it is a powerful item, but compared to the Tesseract, it is like a tiny newborn pup challenging a fully grown Frost Beast. If we get the Scepter, I will be able to undo whatever spells this Von Strucker has used on the Doctor and any other hostages he may have taken as well. He nor any human is sufficiently trained in the art of combining magic and science together and could result in disastrous outcomes."

"And the Tesseract?"

"That is something that you will not like. My mother hide it for a reason to keep it out of the hands of those who would use it for selfish gain, but it seems you were able to find it and were using it-"

"To improve the lives of our people. We were trying to make self replenishing clean energy to improve housing, offices, federal and government buildings, hospitals, orphanages... if we can replace electricity as our main power source all lives will infinitely improve." Fury told him. "Better power means more time to find newer cures for illnesses and diseases that have plagued mankind since ancient times."

Loki stared him down before nodding his head, seemingly agreeing with him or approving, but never try to out lie a liar.

"Regardless, as it was my mother's duty to hide and protect the Tesseract, it falls to me to get it back, hide it once more and protect it." Loki finished. "It was never meant to be found, but it seems you found a way."

"But-"Coulson began.

"No." Loki cut in. "My mother was killed for information about its location and possibly the location of other powerful relics. These are items that are too powerful and dangerous to be used by anyone but the ones who created them. Thor and I will help you recover the Tesseract, but then I must hide it, somewhere no mortal or immortal can find it again."

"I'm sorry but I cannot allow that to happen, Loki. How do I know you won't use it for yourself?" Fury demanded, calm and cool, collected.

"I was power with vast amounts of magic, trained by the best tutors available to me. I'm a Prince. What could that cursed cube do for me? Bring my mother back? No... There are some magics that should never be messed with and Necromancy is one of them. It drives the caster insane and ultimately steals their soul and sanity as well as their life in the end." Loki sneered, turning to leave the room but he stopped at the door and glanced over his shoulder. "Oh and by the way... I do what I want."

With that said, Loki sashayed out of the room, tall and elegant, but confident and deadly...


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

It was a hectic few days, getting everyone settled and on some semblance of coherency. The Warriors Three were a welcome balance to the team, able to keep even footed with Thor while also not seen as threats. Sif and Natasha sparred often, sometimes the both of them against Loki. Steve found a favorite Spar partner in Frandral, who seemed good at fisticuffs. Hogun normally messed around with Stark, smirking as the man would charge and fail to hit him or try to sneak attack him. Voltstagg partnered with Bruce, out of everyone with the exception of Loki, he had the most patience to calm and talk Banner into light training and even some meditation.

So it was of little shock when Fury walked into the living room one morning and asked Jarvis to pull up the data file he brought with him. Everyone turned to him from their various places in the main room, looking at the holographs that floated around.

"We've detected unusual energy readings coming from this rural area, just between the borders of Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine." He began, a map appearing and zeroing in on the specified area. "We've found several Hydra agents amongst our ranks and that they've been feeding information to the others for some time now... We don't know how they got in, but they did and many of our top level vaults have been raided and emptied."

"Not surprised." Tony sighed, taking over the presentation as Jarvis worked his magic. "So not only are we trying to save Dr. Selvig, we're trying to get back a magical rubix cube and prevent an alien invasion, we also have to hunt down some dangerous and deadly toys that no one has any business playing with."

"Someone gets it." Loki mused, eyes scanning over the information. "I can cast an energy spell with a location spell, if these items truly are of a magical nature, they will give off a specific energy reading. Think of it as going to the spice aisle of your local market. Each spice has its own unique scent and flavor."

"We can retrieve them for you." Frandral offered. "We're the most familiar with Loki's spells and we ourselves have handled our fair share of magic items and creatures."

"Just don't get chased by a Harpy again." Sif sighed. "I still have the scars from that one."

Loki chuckled as Thor grumbled discontentedly. He hated the Harpy, made the mistake of eating her whole, spent a week coughing up feathers and Loki every once in a while holds up a handful of feathers just to see Thor hiss at them.

"I think that would be best because we still don't know who is legit SHIELD or Hydra anymore... not to mention some strange assassinations have been happening as well. Anyone familiar with the Winter Soldier?" Fury asked, looking around.

"I had a run in with him... shot me, ruined my bikini line and killed the man I was protecting..." Natasha stated, lifting her shirt enough to show a jagged scar the length of her finger and the width of two. It rested close to where her ovaries would be. "He was a government official was both popular and hated by his peers, he was on his way to be elected into a ranking bracket of the government."

"That man, as it turns out, was a member of Hydra." Coulson stated. "The Winter Soldier was trained by Hydra to work for them, but I guess they didn't expect him to go rogue and start assassinating their people instead."

"What!?" Natasha growled. "I was protecting one of THEM!?"

"Be calm Lady Widow..." Thor soothed her, looking at all the information floating before him and listening to what was being said. "It seems to me these Hydra men have implanted many of their followers into all classes of your society. It's a tactic often used by royalty and even nobility of the Nine Realms to slowly corrupt and take over another. However it usually ends in civil war and death."

"Hmm, like the Red Wedding of Fumigar." Loki mused. "Mother killed 70 people using a poison that made them bleed from the inside out, bathing the room in blood, all to whip out some sycophants who believed that D'von'mir should be king instead of my father. She did this at the wedding of a noble named Fumigar to a woman named Kil'famir. She said it was her present to the new couple."

Everyone stared at him like he was insane, but he shrugged.

"The 70 that died ranges from a few servants, to peasants, clergymen, merchants, nobles, a visiting King and eldest son and four of my father's best warriors. She even killed a couple of courtesans and slaves. As you can see they were all in various positions from rich to poor. And Thor is possibly right, Hydra probably has eyes and ears all over from the lowest of the low to those deemed untouchable by law." Loki clarified.

"I worry about what kind of father you would be to your own kids if your mother goes around poisoning people." Tony admitted.

"She does not go around doing so willynilly, if not to keep balance, then it is because she is usually bored and even then, when she is bored, she prefers to stab you in your chest." Loki huffed, waving a hand. "And I would be a wonderful parent to my children as she was to me. Now then, is it possible for this Winter Soldier to be tracked and possibly reasoned with, if he is going around killing Hydra members, maybe he will not be opposed to working with us?"

"I doubt we will find him or that he won't just shoot first, ask later if we do find him." Barton intoned.

"Perhaps, perhaps not... It seems to me this Winter Soldier could have and would have killed the Lady Widow if he deemed her a member of Hydra, instead he merely incapacitated her in order to go after his real target and even once his target was terminated, he could have come back to finish her off, but left her alone." Frandral pointed out.

"Is it possible that they could have been using mind control?" Voltstagg asked Loki.

"I was thinking the same thing, but mind control is limited and even dangerous to use." Loki nodded. "The mind is a truly mysterious and marvelous thing, but much like the body, it can only take so much abuse, wear and tear before it succumbs. Even mind control with magic is very dangerous and deadly."

"How long would it take for someone to succumb to the affects of mind control through magic?" Natasha asked.

"It depends, really on how strong the mind of the victim is... strength of mind does not necessarily mean intelligence. It is based off how well you truly know yourself. Are you the type to walk into a labyrinth and become utterly lost after the first three steps or are you able to make it to the center and back without getting lost?" he pointed out. "In Dr. Selvig's case, they need him alive, so the spell they are using would be keeping his mind intact, but it would only be for a limited amount of time, especially if they are using the same spell on multiple people. You'd have to be at the very least my level of magic to control 40 people simultaneously and keep their minds intact for a month or two."

"So he's not in too much danger if we don't find him right away... how long after the time limit until his brain turns to mush and he dies?" Tony asked, he and Bruce sitting together running the numbers and trying to narrow down a decent estimation of how long they truly have.

"As I said before it depends on him, if he's got a strong mind, a strong sense of who he truly is, he might make it to three months or if he's not... well there have been reported cases where the victim died the moment the spell ran its course, others before the spell even took effect..." Loki shook his head. "I will not pretend or lie to you, we have less than three months at the very best chance to save Dr. Selvig, as for this Winter Soldier, if he had been under similar conditions, spell or otherwise, it seems he's regained his sense of self and was able to overpower the mind control and is now his own person."

"But whatever they did to him..."

"May have caused permanent damage to his psyche... he may suffer from delusions or may be prone to violent outbursts because his mind can no longer differentiate between illusion and reality. If this is the case, we will need to find him an anchor assuming he hasn't found one himself. Something that he knows is real, a memory of a fond childhood, a beloved pet or even a close friend. Perhaps an event he witnessed or a type of music. As long as he or any one has that anchor, they will be able to come back, but not always the same, never the same."

Everyone went quiet and grim.

"I'd hate to ask this, but did your mother know something that happened like this?" Bruce wondered.

"I do not know, this topic makes even her uneasy and she's very hard to disturb. It is not a topic she would have broached with me as a child and even then I haven't completed my studies of magic yet to begin the next level, which is Spells of the Mind, Body and Soul. I do however read quite a bit and mother never puts her dairies away." Loki smiled. "I know a few spells, never put them into practice, but if its an enemy, does it still count as cruelty?"

"As long as it's a Hydra goon, we'll pretend we never had this conversation." Fury nodded before moving on...

5 hours after the meeting everyone was sitting a jet that was strictly designed by SHIELD's finest for SHIELD's use. It was large enough to house the 12 people comfortably, with extra space for medical attention to be paid, however the only ones in it were Natasha and Clint at the helm, flying the jet to the base location, Steve standing in the door way of the cockpit talking to them and with Fury as Loki and Bruce sat in the back, Loki playing with his bracelet, recalling the stories his mother has told him over his life time, the ones he read in her books and others he heard from his father and brothers. Bruce was dozing on a large bench to himself, Stark headphones sitting over his ears playing calming opera music.

"We'll be landing soon... Nervous?" Steve asked coming to sit by Loki.

"Not really... I've hunted before, wearing only a loincloth and using a crudely made spear. Survived a month like that." Loki chuckled. "Just me and the beasts of Jotunheim, the weather and their brutality... I've been raised since birth to fight, to survive and to one day lead, not as King, but Queen."

"But... you're a man."

"I'm intersexed." Loki corrected. "I prefer He/Him pronouns, but I am actually They/Them. The closest thing I can compare myself to is a Hermaphrodite."

Steve blinked, slowly nodding his head as it began to make some sort of sense. He's caught himself a few times in the last few days of calling Loki a girl because at one glance he's too pretty to be a man, but at the next he's to masculine to be considered a woman.

"Are all Jotun's intersexed?" He wondered.

"Yes, though we do have the rare few who are completely Male and Female, though it's very rare. We are a single gender species, designed to either impregnate or become pregnant no matter who we sleep with. Most of my people prefer other Jotuns, the others are a little adventurous and will try out the other species. My father loves my mother regardless if she's Midgardian, loved her enough to get her pregnant. However he had a Husband before my mother, the Jeweled Sorcerer Fárbauti. My brother Helblindi was Sired by Fárbauti and Dammed by father, and my other brother, Byleístr was Sired by father and Dammed by Fárbauti."

"Wait... your father married twice?" Steve blinked.

"His first marriage was arranged, but unlike most arranged marriages, he did genuinely care for Fárbauti, even loved him. It broke his heart when he was killed. He married my mother of his own free will and by then, while he did love Fárbauti their marriage bed had long since grown cold. Mother told me that at first Fárbauti resented her, hated her, but after spending much time with her, around her and getting to know her, he admitted he was jealous, even felt foolish because while he and father did not become intimate, father still showered him in love and gifts, introduced him first before my mother. They became friends, almost siblings and Fárbauti even named my mother his Heir should he die in battle, which he did. My mother became the first Queen of Jotunheim and had the most powerful Sorcerer's blessing to boot."

"Wow..." Steve blinked. "That's a bit... well I'll be frank, it's very weird and a bit worrisome, but then again I was raised in an age where women remained home and tended the house and children while men went out into the world to do whatever they wanted. I was raised to like women, find me a nice girl to marry and have kids with and raise good little red blooded Americans."

"Did you find 'a nice girl' to settle down with? And if that is the mind set now, then why has Lord Stark claimed to be a playboy?" Loki blinked.

"Oh, no! No, no! I was born and raised in the 1920s-1950s. I've been frozen in ice for 90 years... Before I fell into the ice, I did find myself a nice girl, her name was Peggy Carter, she was smart, beautiful and deadly with a pistol. I had wanted to purpose to her after the mission to stop Red Skull and the Nazis, but I fell into the ice... One of the first things I did after waking up was look for her. I found her in a home back in Washington D.C. She was an old woman, frail and slowly fading, she married, had a few kids and I met her granddaughter a few times, by then her mind was fading, she would always greet me with 'You haven't changed... Still so handsome and I'm all but wasting a way.' She died a month ago, she went quietly in her sleep."

"I'm sorry, that must've hurt terrible." Loki spoke up.

"I will admit I was upset at first, that she didn't wait for me, but then I realized I was being very selfish... I could have remained on ice for hundreds of years before finally waking up. If that had been the case, she still would have been dead, but at least I got to see her at her last moments. And I'm glad she didn't wait, she found herself a nice man, who cared for her and their children, he died during the final stages of the war, she raised their kids as best she could while working for SHIELD, those kids grew up and had families of their own and she was so happy and proud, out of all our friends, she was the only one who made it to be called grandma." He chuckled.

"Hmm... I'm sure if things had been different, you'd have been very happy together, but I feel as if you are relieved she married another instead of waiting for another reason." Loki mused, smiling at Banner as he jerked awake and slowly begin picking his things up and stripping down to a pair of super elastic yoga shorts. "A male reason."

"... I was raised to view same sex couples as something abnormal, sinful and wrong, and for a while I fed into the hate and disgust others expressed at anyone gay. But even so... I couldn't help how I felt around my closest friend, Bucky."

"Bucky?" Loki snickered, the name was strange and even more so a bit of an innuendo.

"James Buchanan Barnes... He insisted we call him Bucky." Steve chuckled, picturing said boy with his hands on his hips and glaring spitefully at anyone who called him by his real name, anyone but his parents. "He was raised the same way I was, though he never bought into that 'gays are unnatural' bull that was spreading around. He always told me that 'if you love someone, why should it matter if they are a girl or a boy? Love is love right?' He was always at my side, when my father died when I was child, and when my mother died when I was in my teens... he joined the army with me, even if I was declined at first. And later after becoming a Super Soldier, he was placed on my team of Special Ops."

"Hmm, sounds like he always had your back, even without you asking him to." Loki mused.

"Yep... the same mission that caused me to fall into the ice? It was the same one I lost Bucky in, they never found his body, but they did give him and our other friends a nice private sector with their tombstones. It wasn't until after seeing Peggy again that I realized, she was the only woman whoever made my heart flutter, could imagine myself with. It wasn't until the first time she had a lapse in memory that I realized I had the love of my life at my side always there waiting to catch me when I fall until he was gone."

"Mother had a saying, 'We go through life with our eyes covered by a veil so thick we often miss what is right in front of us, until it is suddenly gone. Many of us realize too late how utterly blind we truly are.' and then she would say, 'It's Fate's way of mocking the living and the dead, by placing what you want most right in front of you knowing full well you would be forever blind until its gone or has been left behind.' She told me that while cruel and mean on the Norn's side, she told me they did this to also protect it. If you could see it before you, so could everyone else. And if you claimed it, the others who saw would be jealous and try to take it from you or destroy it."

"Well either way, I still have to live with my choices..." Steve sighed standing up and clipping his shield onto his back before walking to the back of the ship. "Barton."

"Happy landing!" Barton shouted opening the hatch and watching Steve jump out the back without a parachute.

Loki stood up, walking to the back and watching the man vanish into the bare trees and snow. Smirking he turned to look at Bruce.

"This will be fun..."

Steve landed on a truck, ripping through the tarp protecting the men inside from the harsh winter winds. They all stared for all of a second at him before trying to shoot him, but he wasted no time in knocking them all out, shooting and killing anyone who got too close to doing the same to him. The driver abandoned the truck to smash into a tree, but Steve had thankfully jumped out before hand and was running through the snow toward the base.

"Stark, Thor can you hear me?" He called into the comm.

"Loud and clear, Capsicle." Tony chirped.

"Agreed." Thor's low voice hummed.

"Where are you both?"

"I'm coming in from Poland." Stark informed. "That's West."

"I am coming in from the East, I've dispatched three trucks with slaves in them, the slaves are free and fleeing back home." Thor told him.

"I've seen a few tanks and barricades blocking the roads, if things get hectic it will take them about an hour or less to get here." Tony noted. "Jarvis, send a few EMPs to their systems and slow them down will you?"

"Right away, Mr. Stark. Also a message from Ms. Potts. She regrets to inform you that she will have to stay another month on her trip, it seems there was a mishap and paperwork was misplaced."

"... Alright, run scanners on these people and make sure that the mishap wasn't on our end. Call Happy and tell him that nothing happens to Pepper or else." Tony growled low.

"Right away, sir."

"Tony!" Steve snapped. "Now's-"

"Hey! You spilled your guts to Loki not to long ago, don't bitch at me for wanting to make sure my future wife is safe!"

"Now is not the time for arguments... Thor if they continue, please knock them out." Loki ordered.

"As you wish, Civip Kethend." Thor purred.

"..." Tony and Steve gulped, Thor sounded a bit too happy at that prospect and mutually called a truce until they were safely back at the Tower.

"Guys head's up! I just dropped off 'Tasha and she's gonna need cover. I saw some heavily artillery waiting for us at the base's main gate and surrounding the whole place."

"Shit... I'm on my way." Steve grunted, throwing his shield to bounce of a few trees, knocking out Hydra soldiers and a few guns before he caught it, and stole a motorcycle, riding off to catch up with the Black Widow.

"Thor, heads up, you got company."

"Hmm... I see them..." Thor growled and the sky above darkened as harsh wind began blowing.

"I set down the plane, I'm on my way. Banner's ready to go at any given moment." Clint called to them again.

"Good... wait where's Loki?"

"I honestly don't know. But I get the feeling he's not one to follow orders too often."

"He's at the base already, he's clearing a path for Lady Widow." Thor informed. "I will be there shortly to provide whatever cover is needed."

"A'mael, do not distress yourself, I am well. You have not let loose in quite some time, feel free to release some tension." Loki spoke up, a calming and almost seductive tone. "You will know the instant I need you."

"Be safe, my Treasure." Thor rumbled low before his comm went silent.

"Best hurry Lord Rogers, the Lady Widow and I are nearly to the door. Son of a Frost Beast Bitch!" Loki bellowed out. "Did you just try to shoot me! Lord Banner if you will please?"

"Shit..." Steve and Tony gasped and faintly they could hear Clint face palming and what sounded like Thor's laughter from the distance.

It was utter chaos from then on. Hulk and Thor lept about the battlefield, smashing tanks and weapons while Clint called out patterns and striations while providing back up cover with his arrows. Tony zipped about taking care of some of the aerial weapons as Steve took down anyone who crossed his path. Loki and Natasha got to the base's doors and the Jotun prince grinned as he let his hands turn back to their natural blue color and placed them on the large metal doors. His touch so cold the metal moaned and groaned pitifully as the ice spread, its own weight too much for it and then it cracked and collapsed at Loki's feet.

"We're in!" Natasha called.

"Right! Everyone converge now! Find Strucker and Selvig! They have hostages, so don't go trigger happy! If they attack, knock them out!" Steve ordered. "Hulk keep the tanks away from the base!"

A loud vicious roar was his reply before a tank went flying passed him, mangled and in several pieces.

"I'm sending you an astral map of the base, and will do my best to disable any safety measures that might cause severe injury or death." Loki informed them, his hands glowing with the spell while his eyes were wide and darting about seeing something Natasha couldn't, but she's seen enough of his magic work over the last week to know that he can literally see the world around him from all angles.

"Is this gonna feel weird?" Tony wondered.

"It becomes second nature." Thor assured him. "I smell something strange..."

"I do as well... Thor how about a nice little hunt?" Loki purred and Thor growled in pleasure. "Neinn dráp, vér nauðsyn inn gísl lífs..."

"Sem yðarr ráð, minn Svell Blóm."

"Jarvis... what did they say?" Tony asked.

"I'd rather not translate sir... it sounded... intimate." Jarvis hesitated.

"Never mind!" Tony panicked, he didn't want to know what the two aliens were saying, for all he knew it could involve a cat, milk, a needle and a bowl of sugar!

Thor let out a loud laugh as Loki snickered, Natasha rolled her eyes, her knowledge of Latin gave her a glossing understanding of what the two had said and like Jarvis had said, it was intimate, sort of. Once Loki got the confirmed responses from the others about his spell, he nodded to Natasha and pulled out his batons, no need to kill someone by accident if they were a hostage. They entered the base, the Astral projection of the map Loki made moved with them, showing them where they were standing and if there were rooms or halls visible and hidden. They took out anyone who attacked them, ordering the hostages to flee, those who weren't under the mind spell that was.

"Hey, we've found a few of Strucker's Zombies, can we free them from the spell?" Clint asked suddenly.

"I've taken a look at the ones we found and while it would take a day or two to find a magical solution, I'd prefer the more effective one..." Loki grumbled and then clocked the two scientists in front of him in the temple, hard enough to blackout for a second or two, but over all not really incapacitate them.

"What?" The others asked, Thor just grumbled low.

"Cognitive re-calibration." Natasha stated.

"English people!" Tony snapped.

"He hit them hard in the head..." Natasha smirked, amused at how annoyed the boys got. "Are you alright now?" She asked the two scientists in front of her as they began to regain their senses.

"Ye- yes... Ah!" They jumped seeing Loki standing behind her. "Y- you! We- we saw your photo... you... you! Let us out of here!" They screamed, shoving passed Natasha, skirting around Loki like he was gonna eat them, and out the door.

"What... was that?" Natasha asked, eyeing Loki who frowned.

"My portrait?" He mumbled. "Thor... it seems my previous theory to the AllMother is correct, locate Baron Strucker and find out what you can."

"With pleasure..." Thor snarled low, sounding more and more like the Beast.

"Uuh, Loki... is Bolt boy feeling alright?" Tony worried.

"He's not sounding like himself." Steve added.

"He's well... But I suggest you hurry up, otherwise Von Strucker will not be alright." Loki assured. "I am sensing something strong and I'm very curious as to what it is..."

"Right, Natasha, keep with Loki, if things get hairy, get the both of you out and to Hulk."

"Roger that, Captain." Natasha replied back, busy looking through paperwork, grabbing the really interesting ones and stuffing them into folders and into a messenger bag she had on her back. "Stark, you might want to hack their systems and take all the info you can, I'm seeing some very interesting things here that you may or may not be proud of."

"What? Seriously?" There was silence before they heard a long string of curses before Jarvis muted Tony's comm and assured them that he's hacked into the computer systems and is downloading everything.

"Shall we?" Natasha asked, once she gathered up the last of the paper work.

"Of course, is the bag helping?" He asked her, smirking in amusement.

"Yes, endless space pockets must be very convenient for you." She smirked.

"Not everyone can make one or knows about it. Mother taught it to me and I use it often, I do not like being bored. Idle hands lead to wars, you know. Or massive amounts of destruction..." Loki chuckled.

"Well, aren't you the mischievous one? Guess we got one thing right, you're the God of Mischief." she hummed as they left the room, raiding others along the way.

At one point Hulk smashed through the base, landing in a painful heap at the bottom of a massive room that was built in a spiral formation. Above them three levels up was Tony, out of his Iron Man suit, two levels below them was Steve in his Captain American uniform. Thor was at the very top, floating in the open space, sniffing around. And Clint was on the same level as them across the way.

"Shit! Hulk!" Steve cried out. "Loki, you might-"

Loki grabbed Natasha around the waist and jumped over the railing, his magic bending the air around them to slow their fall and gently float them to the ground. As soon as they were down, Loki let Natasha go and she carefully got close to Hulk, who was waking up and not looking happy.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa... easy Big Guy, come on, it's only Nat." She crooned, keeping low and defensive in case he attacked her. "Are you okay? Does it hurt?"

Hulk growled, getting up, but he remained standing in the crater he made, looking from Natasha to Loki, who was looking at a room behind him. Hulk's nose twitched, the scents were familiar, the faint voice of Banner telling him, they were friends, to not hurt them. He crouched low, grunting as he sniffed at Nat, under the smoke, gun powder, sweat and blood scents, he could picked up that moon flower oil she always dabbed behind her ears. Light and sweet, calming. He made a purr like sound as he felt her gently cupped his cheek.

"No boo-boos to kiss?" She asked and he grumbled, showing her his bruised knuckles. She gave him a coy smirk and kissed his big hand, patting it softly before she gave a slightly bigger smirk, one that matched his. "Those meanies need to be punished, go smash them for me?"

He grunted and jumped back up the hole and out to finish raining hell on the Hydra goons stupid enough to remain.

"Nice one, Widow..." Steve told her.

"No problem, Captain... Loki?" She turned to see him waving his hands over the door behind him.

"There's... something sentient here, but not living..." He murmured. "It's giving off that energy I was feeling..."

"Could it be dangerous?"

"I don't know..."

He finally swung his hands in a sharp and aborted motion, the sound of several locks breaking could be heard as the heavy door fell back into the room, revealing Von Strucker, Selvig, the scepter, the Tesseract and two insectoids holding a coffin sized box.

"Ah, so you are the one my men informed me about..." the human purred.

He was an attractive man, with refined features, nice blue eyes and a shaved head, he was average in height, a bit thin, but by no means sickly. He wore a manacle over one eye and was... smug.

"You seem to know me... but I do not know you." Loki stated.

"I would think not... I'm to collect you, so please do not fuss. Lord Malekith has ordered your capture." He stated.

Loki went stiff and the air in the room dropped to freezing temperatures and seemed to keep dropping. Natasha backed away from him, as her breath fogged out of her as she tried to repress her shivers.

"Oh? And may I ask, why?" Loki's voice while still calm and polite, was void of any inflection, emotion... anything. "And is this the reason your hostages flee as soon as they see me?"

"Hostages? I do not-"

"Dr. Selvig is one, you have taken possession of his mind, he is not here of his own free will." Loki cut him off, sharp and quick, deadly. "Now please, try not to lie to me... I detest liars."

"I honestly do not know, but seeing you in the flesh, I assume Lord Malekith just wants you for himself... I would certainly not mind you company or warmth in my bed..." Strucker chuckled, even as he shivered in the chilling air.

"Let the Doctor go, Baron!" Steve ordered as he and the others made it to the room, Thor walking to stand just before Loki, half hiding him.

The Insectoids set down their burden and stepped forward, high powered energy rifles in their hands and trained on Thor.

"I do not take orders from you, Captain America..." spat the German man. "However I might negotiate terms of surrender, your surrender that is." He smirked darkly.

"Thor..." Loki placed a hand on his shoulder, moving behind him so his lips were barely kissing the shell of his ear. " _Brien a' amin ho lyien lambe... Ar' sen dol._ "

" _Ta nuava Seasamin..._ " He growled lowly, eyes flashing dangerously as he dropped Mjolnir to the ground, preferring to feel the lives of Von Strucker and the two Insectoids fade between his fingers.

Loki stepped back, smirking coldly and darkly as Thor removed his cape, tossing it to the floor as well as stripping off his breastplate and tunic. The others were about to ask what he was doing when Thor loosed an animalistic roar and lunged at the two Chitauri warriors, weaving around their shots and with relish, he grabbed one alien by the head and dug his hands into the the bisected jaws, grabbing the lower jaws by their halves and ripping them right off before he turned to the other, his claws out and tearing the other from throat to groin, digging his hands into the wailing, dying creatures chest he ripped out a strange pumping organ and then turned to the other that was slowly drowning its own blood, ramming his arm down the hole where its mouth was and after blindly digging around ripped out the matching organ from the first.

Strucker and the others were shocked still before Strucker cursed, grabbed Selvig's arm and with the scepter created a portal to step through before Thor could turn his sights on him. The blonde warrior was not blind, he saw the cowered flee, but didn't care, taking the two heart like organs, he laid them before Loki, kneeling lowly as he presented his prize.

"Thank you Thor... though the worm escaped..." Loki praised, a hint of disappointment in his tone before he grinned darkly. "But I now know what I need to about his scepter."

"What's that?" Natasha asked, still eyeing the carnage Thor left behind.

"It is not sentient magic... it's cloned magic." He stated. "It's fake."

"If so then-" Steve began, but Tony cut in.

"The magic used to to make it is real, but the magic it is using is fake, right?" Tony guessed.

"Correct... whoever made it is the one in control of the hostages. For if it was truly the scepter, without the counter spell or potions, it is impossible to set the victim free unless they themselves do so or the one who casted the spell to begin with sets them free."

"In other words, even hitting them in the head shouldn't have set them free." Clint murmured. "Does that mean whomever's magic this belongs to is not able to keep their control?"

"Not from great distances... You'd have to be a God in order to do such a thing and even then, that kind of control is near impossible to maintain. And the distance must be great if a hard jar to the head is all it takes to awaken the Hostages." Loki told them. "Thor, grab the box... I am most curious as to what it is..."

Tony grinned, knowing that Loki would let him and Banner play with it, learn everything they can about it before he did his own lookie-lou. Steve sighed, turning to leave, but gasped as he was knocked in the head with a pipe that came out of nowhere, before Natasha grunted as she was picked up and thrown into a wall. Clint's quiver was stolen and he was slammed into a wall. Loki turned and from the corner of his eyes, he saw something quick and silver flash by before he quickly surrounded himself in ice. Whatever it was skirted around him and bashed into Thor, who roared and swung around blindly.

Cursing, he dropped his barrier and grabbed Thor's arms, making him look him in the eyes, but in that instance a woman with red hair appeared by their sides and waved her fingers around their heads. Thor grunted before seemingly going catatonic while Loki turned to the woman, grabbing her with one hand and smirking.

"You are trying to mess with my mind, that will not-" he paused as the world warped around them both and they saw Jotunheim, the wonderful world of endless winter was blazing red with fire and blood, screams and death surrounded them, battle rang out from all corners of the realm. He heard the woman gasp and turned to her but he saw instead his father sitting on the ground, cradling something black and pale in his arms. Could see his brothers battle worn and scarred, wailing with him. He turned the other way and saw himself, adorned in battle armor of a Mage Warrior, standing shocked before he heard his own voice screaming for his mother, the world faded and all they could hear was a giggling voice asking him why he was painting the butterfly charms pink, yellow and minty green.

His young childish voice saying that they were pretty and easier to see against the white. The same voice telling him that his logic was sound and that they wanted to paint one now, but this one she wanted dark purple and blue, stark and cold to match their realm, but brilliant and bright to shine brighter than the most polished of ice crystals. The world changed again and he could see his mother talking to a council of some sort, they seemed angry, shouting, she spoke back angry and proud, he saw in her hands the Aether, contained and confined, but dark and furious in her hands.

" _ **You will hide it, N- or we will punish you..." growled a voice.**_

" _ **Go suck a Naga's tit, Zeus! I will hide it like I did the others, right in front of your faces!" She growled, her hands waving and the stone vanishing between one flick of the wrist and the next. "Now if you are done being assholes, I have to get back to cleaning up Bor's mess with the Dark Elves... Bother, bother, bother... I'm too old for this shit and having a lifetime in between jobs is not enough!"**_

" _ **How dare-"**_

" _ **Enough... R- you and S- are the only ones entrusted with this task, we ask you to both to finish this and we'll grant you 100 lifetimes worth of much deserved rest. But you know what happens when you are absent too long."**_

" _ **Anubis, you know we are much older than many of you think we are, we've done this job since the rule of Death and Chaos, we know what we are doing and will continue to do it, our way. If that is all the council wishes of me, I have something to attend to, ordered by Lord Chaos himself."**_

" _ **Then we are through... good luck, Keeper."**_

The world faded one last time and then Loki was blinking his eyes and staring at Thor's concerned eyes.

"Loki..."

"Mother's... Mother's..." He tried to say but then he suddenly collapsed. His mind and body having had enough...

When Loki awoke again, he was in his bed in the Avenger's Tower. Beside him sat Darcy, reading a book, but a worried crease in her brow. Outside he could hear the loud voices of the others. It sounded like they were furious about something. Sighing, he sat up slowly.

"Loki! Don't get up! You're exhausted-"

"I am aware... I did not realize how stressed I was until I allowed a Midgardian to invade my mind..." Loki sighed, a frown on his lips and pinched expression around his eyes.

"Yeah, Thor's not happy with the Scarlet Witch either. Tried to eat her, you know. And not the sexy kind either!"

"I- what? I did not realize humans viewed cannibalism as sensual..." Loki blinked.

"What- no! I mean... Wait you don't know what 'eating out' means? Do you know what Sex is?" She asked.

Loki flushed brightly, covering his ears in a manner reminiscent of a child who covered their ears to not hear something they aren't meant to. Normally Darcy would have laughed at this, but with the serious amount of UST between him and Thor, and how utterly innocent Loki was... Oh god, she needed to fix this ASAP before Thor snapped and took Loki on whatever surface was available to them! But before she could delve into the Talk, the door to the room opened and Bruce poked his head in.

"Oh, Loki! Thank goodness you're finally awake, Thor's been a bit... um... well he's nearly done to us what he did to those Chitauri creatures..." He stated bluntly.

"Alright... If I am allowed, I will get him to calm down." Loki gestured to the bed.

Banner nodded, coming to help him up as Darcy got him a thick robe to put on over his pajamas. Once they were sure he was able to walk, they left the room. Outside, Natasha was sitting at the breakfast bar, glaring at the twins sitting on the soft, handcuffed, shackled and even their hands were pinned under Mjolnir's weight. Thor was outside, pacing and growling, the dark sky and thick sheets of rain matching his temperament. Tony was pissed as he yelled at Fury and Coulson both, Clint sitting calmly with his bow in his lap, two arrows ready to fire at a given notice.

"What has happened in my absence?" Loki asked at large, instantly everyone was looking at him.

"Holy- Loki! You alright?" Tony asked.

"I am well Lord Stark, if anything I'm a bit tired still and very displeased..." Loki shot a hot glare at the red haired woman. "I do not like that my mind was played with. Visions of possible future outcomes mixed with passed memories, not all of them belonging to the same person who's mind you played with... it is very dangerous and rude."

"So she made you see something too?" Clint grunted. "I saw something pretty fucked up and it made me very disturbed..."

"I relieved my past." Natasha murmured, low and icy cold.

"I saw everyone dead and that it was because of me or something I made..." Tony looked disturbed, shuddering.

"She missed me..." Bruce told him. "And I am glad she did... whatever you all saw, I'm sure it would have caused the Other Guy to start rampaging regardless of friend or foe."

"We're not sure about Thor, he looked put together enough, that is until you collapsed..." Natasha stated.

"I saw visions of a war on my home world, my mother's death in my father's arms... I had a flashback of when I was a young child, hardly an infant with my mother painting butterflies. And then I saw something, something from my mother's past or my ancestor's past, I am not sure but I do know why my family was targeted." Loki hummed, not mentioning anything beyond that.

"What about Thor? You've been out for a few days and well..." Darcy looked worried. "I can't say he's been Cranky, but he has been cranky."

Loki knew what she meant and while it is not worrisome that Thor has not transformed, it could be dangerous because it means he's more prone to violent outbursts. Jalan and Frigga had informed him of this early on when he first moved in with the Clutch, years of training had taught Thor to control himself, but he normally allowed nature to take its course. Meaning regardless of the curse he could change at will, but chose to follow the curse's path. It made for very interesting situations and reactions. Letting a fond smile over take his face, Loki walked out into the rainstorm that instantly lightened up and eventually slowed and stopped as Thor all but collapsed into Loki's arms and the two sat outside, cuddled close.

It was a few minutes later that the two walked in, Loki waving his hand and all the water soaking them condensed into a ball which turned to ice before shattering and reforming into center display on the coffee table of a Frost Beast family, the mammoth male, the slightly smaller female and their four pups, from the tiny newborn to the the hulking juvenile. It was enchanted to not melt so they did not have to worry about a mess later. The pair sat on the love seat, Loki pulled tight to Thor's side, said male nuzzling into the fluffy mess of Loki's hair.

"Your names, witch, demon?" Thor demanded, low and gravelly.

"Wanda Maximoff." Scarlet Witch spoke up, trembling slightly in fear.

"Pietro Maximoff..." The silver haired male followed after her.

"What happened after I lost consciousness?" Loki wondered.

"Thor grabbed Wanda over there by her neck, threatening to snap it if she did not undo whatever it was she had done to you. We tried to calm him down, but..." Steve started, looking confused and a bit angry with Thor.

"She informed me that minus messing with your mind, or rather attempting to, it seemed another form of magic not of her making or of your own pushed her out. And from what you told me outside, it would seem that the magic that was protecting you pulled you both into those visions or perhaps memories... But I think it has something to do with your missing mother." Thor hummed. "And if you are wondering why Lord Rogers is glaring at me, it is because I threatened to kill the witch."

"Hmm, and this is cause for discord?" Loki blinked.

"You don't threaten women, Thor! It's not polite nor socially acceptable. Not everyone is like Natasha. Or Agent Hill or even Darcy!" Steve sounded annoyed.

"I was raised by two women, Captain Rogers, one a War Goddess, the other a Demoness. Both of whom have taught me that the sexes are equal in all, just because some view women as inferior or as property does not mean all view them as such. Some never raise a hand to the fairer sex because they are as fragile as flowers, but said flowers could often hide deadly thorns and surprises. Sif and my other half sisters are the Valkyries, Shield Maidens and proud warriors. Just because they are women they will not be spared the edge of a sword or the swing of an ax." Thor snarled out, pissed now. "If you do not like how I am, then you will do well to leave. If the Witch wishes to not to die at my hands, she will do well to not come for those I deem mine. And Loki is very much mine."

"Thor." Loki sighed, slapping his thigh. "Be silent, you're temper is too volatile. And how was Lord Pietro captured?"

"When Thor had Wanda, he tried to attack him, he's a speedy one, but Thor wouldn't go down or let her go. In fact it was because Thor nearly killed her right there that we were able to capture them both. Wanda tried to revive you, but it seemed whatever magic was going on between you two wasn't hurting you and that it looked like you just collapsed from exhaustion." Natasha finished, not at all bothered by Steve's views, seeing as he was raised in the 20-50's or Thor's seemingly careless attitude toward Wanda Maximoff.

It was pretty clear that Thor held Loki very near and very dear, was very protective of him and was not afraid to kill anyone who even remotely looked at him wrong, let alone cause him harm or duress.

"I gave myself up if he promised not to hurt my sister." Pietro spoke up, looking afraid and angry at once. "We attacked because of Stark."

"Long story short, a terrorist group stole my warheads and launched them on their hometown, one of the warheads landed literally through their dinning room, their parents were killed in the fall, while these two managed to get away and hide under their bed and waited for three days for the warhead to explode, all they could see was my name on it and it cemented int heir minds that Stark murdered their parents as well as hundreds of other innocent lives..." Tony stated and grabbed his large decanter of whiskey, but Loki magicked the liquor into juice and did the same to all the other bottles.

"Lady Pepper and I have spoken within the last week we've gotten to known the team and she warned me that when you wish to not feel, you tend to drink in excess and then become self destructive. I will not allow that if I can help it. Go make something in your lab if you must but do not drink." Loki ordered.

Everyone blinked as Tony snorted, "Seriously Bolt Boy, can I get one like him? He's like the love child of Natasha and Pepper with a dash of me somewhere in there."

"I refuse." Thor stated, smirking at the little joke.

"I am not the love child of you three, if anything you're somehow related to me through my mother's family, which I highly doubt seeing as my mother is an only child and has not cousins to speak of." Loki snorted

"Cold, man... real cold..." Tony huffed. "And I'm glad you brought up my lab because I found out what is in that box and it seems it's the the Mr. Hyde to Jarvis' Dr. Jekyll."

"What do you mean?"

"Baron Von Strucker called it Ultron... it was to be a supercomputer AI to be implemented into your hover carrier defense system. Able to kill a Million threats at once, only instead of the threats deemed by SHIELD, it would be the threats to Hydra's world order... we were made what we are to protect Ultron, but he told us we were useless to him. He made his own body in secret, it is waiting for him, and he will try to claim it back."

"Yeah, well after what he did to Jarvis, I'm not letting him have it." Tony growled, suddenly very angry. "That nutjob AI murdered Jarvis when all he did was try to help him calm down and sort out his memory banks! There was no reason to rip him to pieces!"

Pietro snarled at Tony for yelling at his sister, but Loki snapped his fingers and the deafening crack of thunder silenced all.

"Alright we all need to calm down..." Natasha stated.

"Agreed. Now then it seems we have more problems than we can seemingly handle. For one: My people were attacked and scattered because of someone looking for the Infinity Stones. His name is Malekith, King Eternal of the Dark Elves. He seems to have this Baron under his control and said Human is allies with those insect beings. They have made the scepter, which is more a medium for someone with far reaching magic than an actual weapon, the Tesseract and have captured more than just Lord Selvig. They built something similar to Jarvis and it has murdered him and made its own body. They used the Tesseract to give you two your powers, or rather enhance what was already there."

"So all of this ties back to this Malekith guy?" Steve asked.

"It seems it ties back to my family, specifically myself and my mother. She's gone, either Lord Chaos has hidden her for safety or she is dead, I'm not sure what to think anymore because if what Lady Wanda and Thor say is true and something protected my mind from her, but caused me to pass out, it would have been something my mother had done. And Magic conjured by a living being only lasts as long as the being draws breath. However if I reach out to my mother with my magic, I receive nothing."

"Malekith is after the Infinity Stones, one of them is the Tesseract. Much like Mjolnir, it is sentient enough to call out for its siblings, hence why my friends have gone to locate the other five stones to bring back here. Loki will hide them once more in new locations and if need be take that secret to his grave." Thor added. "However they are using Midgard as their battle ground, simply because you are mortals, you are weak and short lived. Not to mention many of the other 8 realms and beyond find you stupid."

"Hey!" Tony and Steve yelled. Bruce snorted a laugh as Natasha rolled her eyes. Clint smirked.

"So basically they want to fight here, not caring if innocent people die." Coulson concluded.

"More or less. It is also possible because the universe's most powerful relics are hidden here on Midgard. After all, if I wanted to hide something as powerful as the Infinity Stone's I'd hide it here, on a plant deemed weak and pathetic, it's denizens stupid and infantile. Who would come looking for something worth more than the Nine Realms on a Realm meant for mortals?" Thor reasoned out.

"Huh, that actually makes sense, but wait... Loki's said his mother is from Earth, she's mortal but she was entrusted with the Infinity Stones." Steve pointed out.

"Yes she was. Her entire family was." Loki nodded. "I'm still in training, I'm not yet ready for the mantel of Advocate, let alone Agent of Chaos. I'm mischievous at most, nowhere near the level of Chaotic one must be to be entrusted with the duty my mother was charged with. It also helps to be a bit insane. Or a lot."

"And if your mother is truly dead?" Clint wondered.

"Well, mother always said Chaos had a temper and when he unleashes it, not even Death stops him until he has ended the entire Universe and together they begin to rebuild it. She once described the universe as fragile glass plates hanging from thin strings. All lined up, but never truly touching least they all break and shatter. It is the jobs of the Agents of Death and Chaos to keep the Universe in balance. Keep the plates from touching and shattering. If they do, then Death and Chaos finish destroying the rest and restarting it. Think of it as Reincarnation. Or that we are trapped in a large wheel forced to keep running it until the end of time, but the path we take is never the same one." Loki stated, weaving an image of a wind chime of sorts.

They had watched the image spin and wiggle, never touching and when it did, it all but fell apart until it was suddenly smashed, but reformed, however while the plates and strings were the same, the formation was different.

"If I remember correctly, a story passed down my family is that the Infinity stones are the mixture used by Death and Chaos to create everything that was, is and has yet to be. They formed the mold from their own beings. In fact your Big Bang theory is a lot more correct than you think. However it was not nothing, it was the previous version of this Universe being destroyed and recreated in the same instance." Loki smirked.

"Are you serious!?" Tony looked excited and then he paled and sort of flopped on his bar top. "Shit, how many lifetimes have we all lived!?"

"It's impossible to know for sure and only the Keeper of Death can tell you that." Loki shrugged. "But we have strayed from the topic. Malekith wants the Infinity Stones, he has the Tesseract and is looking for the other Stones, using the Tesseract as a locator."

"These Insect creatures are working with him, and it would seem by how smug Von Strucker appeared to be, that they have an army, a massive one at that." Thor added. "And this Ultron was made to secure Hydra's control over your realm. If we hunt down Ultron and destroy him, we should be able to remove enough of Hydra's hold on Midgard to better prepare for whatever they have planned."

"But how can we get Ultron? He escaped via the Internet after he killed Jarvis..." Tony wanted to know, looking saddened. He would never willingly admit it, but Jarvis had been like a son to him, a bossy, sassy son, but his baby never the less. Sure he had Jarvis' older siblings, but... they weren't Jarvis!

"He went through this much effort to make a body. Ask yourself why would a machine wish for a body? Why would it wish to be human?" Loki pointed out. "It believes if it has a body, then it can be its own master or it would be viewed as an equal."

"And if our notes are correct about this body, Tony, Ultron made it to make himself a God among men. It believes by doing this, it will be able to fulfill its Prime Directive, which is to protect Humanity from itself." Bruce piped in.

"But what you are not realizing is, that Ultron's idea of protecting us, is wiping us out and making the world anew for machines... He said we were useless, because we were Human, we were flawed." Wanda stated. "He wished to download our memories into bodies like the one he made for himself."

"To err is human, forgive divine." Natasha sighed. "So what do we do now?"

"Take out the Supercomputer megalomaniac, stop the Baron and his army of roaches or find the head of this Snake and cut it off by going after Malekith?" Tony asked.

"We need to take out Ultron." Loki stated as Thor nodded.

"He is the most dangerous because he does not see that what he is doing as wrong, his whole plan is to convert every human on earth into a machine." Bruce nodded. "I don't even think he realizes that he was made by 'flawed humans' and therefore is flawed himself. Killing us off will not save us, our memories will live on in the machines and a machine with Human emotions tends to self destruct or becomes destructive."

"Not true. Jarvis had the whole range of emotions, then again, I worked on him for years... Him and his siblings. They think and feel like us, but are fully aware they are not us... He was never hostile, violent or destructive." Tony defended.

"That's because he was busy trying to keep you from killing yourself." Steve stated.

"Wait..." Loki perked up. "Stark may I see Jarvis? Thor, go look at the box with the body! Lord Stark you said that Ultron escaped us by going into the Internet correct?"

"Yes?" Tony reluctantly showed them what remained of Jarvis's memory core.

Loki got up and looked it over, Thor quickly running to go look at the box the body was in, or the Cradle as the Maximoff twins called it. Jarvis was torn to pieces, but it was not done by someone under duress, it was systematic, but sloppy. Walking up to Jarvis' memory core, he pointed to a spot.

"What was here?" Loki ask.

Tony walked over, waving his hands to clean away the debris, pushing it to one side and enlarging the spot Loki was looking at and blinked.

"It's the AI subport memory bank... the back up memory drive. It's missing, but it's not destroyed- wait..." Tony suddenly ran off to his lab yelling for Bruce to get his green ass up and help him.

Thor came back into the room and smiled.

"The box has intake ports for vast amounts of energy to fill it. But the lab we were in could not generate enough power nor is there a natural storm powerful enough to power it." Thor stated. "I could generate the power needed to make it work."

"Good. If what I am thinking is true and what is most likely what happened. Lord Stark will be very pleased. However unless we find something more permanent, we cannot get rid of the box... or Cradle." Loki mused.

"What are you thinking?" Coulson finally asked, he and Fury had remained forgotten until now, listening to everyone and watching how while divided at times, they pool together very well.

"I am thinking that if Ultron escaped through the Internet, perhaps Jarvis did as well and is hiding somewhere in case Ultron is aware he did not kill him as he had hoped he had. Ultron will hunt us down for the Cradle and therefore the body he made, however if we place Jarvis in it-"

"Ultron will become furious enough that he will confront us head on. But if he starts to lose he will just jump back into the Internet." Coulson stated.

"Yes, but you forget Magic is a from of Science and I have a plan." Loki grinned as Tony ran back into the room and jumped on him, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He laughed around happy tears before he stood back. "Seems your parents did something right if you can think of shit like this! What's next?"

"We place Jarvis' memory into the body and have Thor bring it to life, however without a permanent power source, Jarvis will have to be constantly uploaded and downloaded from the body whenever it runs out of power or we risk losing him forever." Loki warned.

"I can make a smaller power core version of the one I built for the tower, its self cleaning and renewable energy, it should be-" Tony stopped and frowned. "No, it'll be too little, the detail and careful planning that went into making this body... It's not enough, but I don't know anything that-"

"How about an Infinity Stone?" Loki smirked and Tony's eyes went wide.

"Thor said it earlier, Earth is the perfect place to hide something old and powerful because no one ever thinks to look at a planet where it's dominant species constantly tries to kill itself over stupid things... Hiding it in plain view! Ingenious!"

"Wait-" Fury began, but then he stopped and thought about it. "I think that would actually work... Jarvis has no reason to use the power of the Tesseract, he would never try to harm anyone or take over anything because there is nothing he wants. He'd keep it safe guarded at all times as well as hidden from view."

"But according to Loki there is six of these Stones, what of the other five?" Coulson asked.

"When the time comes I'm sure I will find a place to hide them or I could entrust them to Jarvis." Loki simply shrugged. "However if you can create something that will keep him alive, preferably until we can get the Tesseract, Dr. Selvig and the other hostages back, that would be appreciated."

"I can think of something, though I might ask you to help me and Bruce make it." Tony stated. "We'll get started on drafting, when you are ready to join us, come down to the lab."

"As you wish, Lord Stark." Loki smiled before he looked to the Maximoff twins. "You have a choice, aid us and be freed once this madness is all over, refuse and you will be locked up again, attempt to betray us and I will unleash a terror upon you both, one that will leave you dead."

Wanda looked at her brother and he worried his lip. All he wants is his sister to be safe, she can mess with someone's mind, but her own mind also suffers because she gains the thoughts and memories of others. Mixing and mashing into a constant nightmare, awake or asleep.

"If we help you, will you help her?" Pietro asked.

"Why should we?" Clint frowned.

"Because she may be powerful, she's untrained, defenseless even to her own magic..." Loki stated. "She messed with us, yes, but in turn she gained our memories, things that we kept hidden. I wonder... when you used you little trick on Thor, did you see what happens after sunset? Or perhaps you saw what he does to protect his people?"

"I saw... I saw you, chained and frightened, I saw him fighting... so much blood... so much-" she gagged then and Loki smiled brightly, evilly at her.

"That was because I became his, you know... our first meeting. Before he became tame." Loki mused and she paled.

Darcy chuckled from her place on the carpet, she had been watching and listening the whole time, texting Jane the sum of what was going on as the woman was busy helping the Warriors 3 and Sif.

"Though you tried to cripple him with those memories, I must explain something to you, my dear... He has no memory that he regrets, not a single one that haunts him. Ask him and he will tell you as an Aesir he bred for combat, as the son of a War Goddess and a Demoness, he was trained and raised somewhat to be a killing machine." Loki stated.

Wanda nodded, gulping.

"I will train you, but I want to hear your choice. And remember if you think to betray us, I will unleash that terror upon you." Loki smiled.

"We will help you... we do not want to be used anymore, we just want..." She warbled and Pietro finished for her, "We just want to live in peace."

"Then it shall be." Loki snapped his fingers setting them free. "Come Withcling, I have much to teach you and little time to do so... Lady Darcy come, I know you wish to see this."

"Fuck yes!" Darcy crowed, running after him...


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Wolfgang von Strucker, Baron and current leader of Hydra was pissed as hell. Not only did the man he was ordered to capture had escaped with the Avengers, but they stole the cradle where his finest weapon had been made and perfected! And if that wasn't infuriating enough the Twins were gone! It didn't help that he hadn't completed the brainwashing program on them. And even now, he was could still remember their finest product, the Winter Soldier, but he somehow bypassed the brainwashing, took out most of their best tech and vanished off grid.

"WHY CAN'T ANYONE TELL ME WHERE ALL OUR HARD WORK WENT WRONG!?" He bellowed out before gasping as his mind was yanked painfully into the other realm by The Other who was not pleased.

"We saw all... you failed..." They growled.

"It was a minor sit back, however I did see the one you are looking for. He's strong, but not too strong."

"He took the Scepter." They pointed out, frowning in displeasure.

"But we still have the Tesseract and the kind Doctor has finally finished making the portal. It is only a matter of time before we take the Scepter back and open the portal for your armada to invade Earth." Wolfgang assured. "We still have Ultron."

"..." The Other swept around him before suddenly their nails dug into his throat as he was picked up off the ground and made to look into their face. "Pray you do not fail again... We will not be lenient."

He was dropped and suddenly he shuddered and gasped as he was suddenly back in his own body, his throat sore and bruised from the grip, small rivulets of blood from where the claw like nails dug into his neck slowly seeped into his shirt. The others in the room paused to see him, but he frowned and bellowed for them to get back to work, he then turned to one of his best men and ordered him to make a call to an old friend...

Jane and the Warriors 3 returned, the Lady Sif bringing up the rear, carrying a chest that they placed the stones in.

"We found three more, but the last one is still out there." Sif stated.

"Let me see..." Loki told them.

They opened the chest and Loki examined the stones, secretly glad they were the fakes. He could feel magic in them, but it didn't sing to his blood like true magic did.

"Good... We need only the Tesseract and if I'm not mistaken, the Aether."

The Aesir all went silent at that and the Avengers noticed.

"What is the Aether?"

"It's an Infinity Stone, however it seems it is something to be very worried about." Loki mused. "I know mother called it the Reality Stone, able to make real any thought or whim of the one wielding it."

"Alright so it's very bad news..." Tony stated.

"The Dark Elves. They were once the rulers of the Universe, everything was bathed in darkness and under their control. That is until Bor the Destroyer and the Einherjar appeared, bringing with them Light. The war was the worst, the bloodiest and the most scarring. Svartalfheim was once like Alfheim, but the war had been so great, it left the realm completely barren, nothing grows there, nothing lives there... it is nothing but endless desert and rocky valleys. After the war, the Dark Elves were sealed away by their own means until one day they could reclaim the Aether. The Aether could grant them the power to rule over all, if they get it back..." Sif told them.

"We're all fucked..." Clint sighed.

"Indeed." Frandral sighed.

"Let's hope we find it before they do." Steve stated. "Oh, Tony, my 'partner in crime' is coming here. He's found some Intel that may be helpful."

"As long as he doesn't break anything like last time or hospitalize my people, he's welcome to come." Tony waved off going back to work, surrounded by various holoscreens, searching every inch of the internet for Jarvis.

"So what are you going to do with the stones?" Darcy wondered.

"What my mother would have." Loki stated, closing the box and with a quick jerk of his hands, the box vanished from sight. "Hide them where they cannot be found... She was most fond of dimension pockets."

Darcy grinned as Jane sighed in relief.

"So as long as they stay in a subspace hole, no one will find them. Good... so that just means we have to worry about the Aether and the Tesseract... along with everything else." Jane paled at that thought.

"It's not nearly as complex as it seems." a sudden voice spoke up, startling everyone.

Steve turned and smiled brightly as he saw Bucky walk off the elevator, his cybernetic arm hidden by his thick hoody and gloves. He knew his long time friend and lover hated the arm, but felt less of a man without it. Bucky's semi long hair was messy as always hanging in his eyes, though when he looked up, the grayish green orbs locked onto Steve's blue.

"Sam's gone home to rest up. He says that 'next time you want us to bond, let it be over a football game and a couple of beers.' I don't think he took being nearly blown up too well." Bucky smirked.

Steve shook his head and walked over to the older man, helping him limp over to the sofa when he noted that Bucky was leaning too heavily on the elevator frame. Thor sniffed the air at the new presence, wrinkling his nose before he turned his head back to rest on Loki's lap again.

"Seems we got more people than last time..." Bucky chuckled as he kept Steve pinned to his side, making the blonde flush brightly and wriggle uselessly against him.

"Some new friends from Asgard. Thor and Loki are the pair on the other sofa. Loki's the pretty looking one and Thor's the big one currently napping." Tony stated pointing to the pair.

Loki looked at Bucky and smiled, warm and kind, but then his eyes shot up at something behind him, or someone, because his smile turned icy and a bit malcontent.

"Barnes, welcome back." Coulson stated.

"Nice to be back... so why does Loki look like he want's to gouge our your eyes with a stiletto?" Bucky asked, leaning his head back to look up at the younger man. He and Steve were the oldest in the room after all.

"We are in a disagreement, however he's proving very helpful and insightful." Coulson sugarcoated.

"The three men behind us are our friends, Voltstagg, Frandral and Hugan. The woman currently flirting with Darcy is Sif, Thor's half sister." Loki stated. "We are only helping to find Dr. Selvig. If we happen to solve a few other issues along the way, it is purely because we were bored."

"Don't you mean coincidence?" Bucky asked.

"I don't believe in coincidences. My mother wouldn't let me think that. Everything happens for a reason." Loki shrugged, petting Thor's hair as the Thunderer slumbered on. "And you are right, everything is not nearly as complex as it seems."

"I'm still looking for Jarvis, as soon as we find him, Loki's helping me and Bruce put him in Ultron's body." Tony stated. "Ultron will get pissy and try and get it back."

"He escaped through the Internet twice now..." Coulson commented.

"Yes. But Loki has a way of preventing that."

"Loki?" He asked.

"I wonder how humans will react if the Internet suddenly didn't exist for 24 hours?" :Loki grinned amused at the insanity and chaos that would bring...

The Aesir and the Vanir male looked at him and couldn't help but think that Loki truly was his mother's son.

"Wait... Seriously!?" Darcy gasped. "Loki, I love you, I really do... but I will murder you if you do that!" She growled out.

"Well it's either that or Ultron escapes again. I could always go into the Internet, but from what I have seen on your history browser... I will admit even I am not that mental or evil." Loki stated.

Darcy blushed brightly as everyone looked at her, wondering what she does on the internet...

The next few days were hectic in the tower. Tony spent every waking hour and even his sleeping hours looking through every inch of the internet for Jarvis, Loki and Bruce coming by every now and again to either give a hand or to force him to eat and get at the very least a three hour nap. Natasha, Clint, Steve and Bucky were sent out on missions, well actually Bucky went with them anyway because like hell was letting his lover get hurt or risk the same thing that happened to him befall him. He hadn't been too happy learning that Scarlet Witch, as they had begun to call Wanda, had messed with his mind once. He almost killed her, but Thor protected her, if only because he wanted to rip her to shreds first for what she did to Loki. Pietro and Wanda were put on a crash course of the Avengers initiative.

Sif and Hogun had been assigned babysitting the twins, Darcy joining them because she was awesome like that and kept tempers even as Jane had to unfortunately leave for England, she was to run a few seminars about Astrophysics. Coulson went with her and a team of SHIELD Agents to keep her safe guarded or Thor would kill them, not that Loki would let him... maybe.

Loki, as he had promised had been training Wanda to use her powers and to ground herself when she enters another's mind, though he reminded her constantly that to invade another's mind should always be a last resort because it was dangerous not only for the person but her as well. Pierto learned to fight from Frandral, the speedy swordsman getting a good sparring partner out of the speedy human/mutant. And when he wasn't teaching, helping Tony/scolding Tony, he was examining the 'Stones' his friends brought back.

As he had thought, these were fakes, good ones, but fakes never the less. Strucker had the Tesseract or the Space 'Stone', and before him were the Power, Time and Soul 'Stones' that meant the Space and Reality 'Stones' were still missing. He hadn't touched them, but he did scan them and they, for lack of better understanding, felt like his mother, combined, with a few pieces missing, meaning that if all six of the fakes were brought together, he'd feel his mother's magic again. The items were not sentient, proving they were only tools, really fancy décor actually. He couldn't leave them here for SHILED to use, he wasn't a dummy, they were lying to them about what they were using the 'Stones' for, but he couldn't hide them again, it just spelled trouble later on down the road.

Thor walked up to him, placing his hands on Loki's hips, kissing the nape of his neck as he sniffed at the spot behind Loki's ear.

"You are lost in your thoughts, my princess..." Thor purred low and more Beast than Thor.

"Trying to decide what to do with these fakes..." He murmured, sighing. "I can hide them again, but that just means more trouble further down the road..." bringing a hand up to lightly scratch at Thor's head, tugging on his braids playfully, "But leaving them here is not an option, Director Fury has not been forthcoming with the truth and while I do believe that SHIELD is doing well by protecting the peoples of Midgard, they are a bit misguided... There is also HYDRA to worry about."

"Perhaps... seeing as they are not real, why not break them? Absorb their powers and destroy the husks?" Thor mused, rubbing his face against the back of Loki' head, in a manner similar to a cat before he would begin chinning him like a rabbit. Loki giggled, Thor was being very affectionate at the moment, even if his nuzzling got a little painful sometimes.

"I did not think of that... It is the best option, but I can feel my mother's magics from these... not a full pull, because we are still missing a few, but... she is here... I'm thinking that if mother was truly dead... then Jotunheim will fall and rapidly at that, but I've looked into the affairs of my home and while nothing has improved, nothing has worsened either. I believe I explained it once that certain magics remain unless the one who cast it dies... I feel like these Stones are similar to that concept..."

"Then the Lady Queen lives, she is merely hiding, trying to lessen the danger you are in or perhaps trying to recover... From what I've learned of her from you, she would never abandon her children, her people for any reason. If these truly hold your mother's magic, mayhaps, my Loki, they may lead you to her?"

"And if that endangers not only her, but myself as well?" Loki asked.

"I will not allow it. I vowed my being to you and all you need do is ask it of me... I love you Loki... I cherish you more than the very air I breathe... I do not like seeing you suffer or saddened and you cannot lie to me, I see it clearly behind your mask and I smell it on you..." Thor purred, nipping Loki's neck.

"You are right... Thank you Thor... I may know many things, I do not know everything and I'm glad I can lean on you for the answers I do not know... Will you hold me while I break them?" Loki asked, turning to Thor, wrapping his arms around his neck. "I will feel weak... no I lie, I will BE weak, I will revert to my natural form and be as helpless as a babe..."

"You need not ask... come let us do this now while we are alone..." Thor growled lowly and Loki kissed him, savoring the earthy taste of Thor's lips before pulling away, his forest green eyes replaced by the red on red of his Frost Giant blood.

While still looking into Thor's eyes, Loki chanted, smoke like wisps slipping out of his mouth, black mixing into them in the form of ancient writings. Old and powerful. The wisps wrapped around the Power, Time and Soul 'Stones' seeping into them before pulling out their cores, a purple gem, an orange and a yellow gem coming out from them, wrapping tightly around them. The wisps then pulled back into Loki's mouth where he sucked the three stones in and bit down on them, crushing the fake cores like candy. The remains turned to smoke which Loki swallowed and his body shuddered then, his milk white skin turning to the crystalline glacier blue of his Jotun flesh, the indigo lines of his bloodline rising to the surface and appeared black in the stark contrast between the two shades of blue. His hair grew to its original length and he began radiating a cool aura.

With a whimper, Loki collapsed, weak and trembling as his eyes rolled up and after another shudder went limp. Thor panicked a moment, training his ears on Loki's heartbeat, which was strong and steady. His breathing was deep and a bit shaky, but over all the Jotun Prince had only fainted. Sighing in relief, Thor turned to carry Loki to their room, but paused when he heard something shatter and crumble, he turned to the boxes and the three shells had indeed broken, turning to dust and then smoke and finally thinning into vapor of which vanished into the very air...

Thor ignored the Midgardians as they stared at the empty boxes. Sif was curled around Darcy, smirking at the humans fretting and panicking because the stones were gone. Frandral leaned over her left shoulder, chuckling as Hogun leaned on a wall, between Natasha and Clint, who were just as amused at the others. Voltsagg was happily eating some fruits as Fury, his second, Maria Hill and some of their scientists all yelled and argued with Tony as Bruce shuffled anxiously beside the brunette billionaire.

"They just don't up and vanish, Stark!"

"Actually, they do." Hogun spoke up. "Especially if the one who made them either died, or someone destroyed them. Ancient Relics are not toys, they are weapons, dangerous ones and it is often best to destroy them."

"There is also the possibility Loki hid them, but seeing as Thor has all but banished anyone from bothering our dear Princeling, It I best to wait for Loki to come explain what happened." Sif chuckled out.

"You seem so calm about this..." Clint pointed out.

"If the items had been stolen, do you honestly think Loki would be napping right now? That Thor would be playing nursemaid and be as relaxed as he is?" Frandral asked. "We've seen Loki in action and we've known Thor all our lives."

"Aye, Thor is many things, but never is he careless." The giant man murmured around a bit of orange. "We have grown up with and around magic. The Lady Frigga, Thor's mother, is a very powerful Sorceress, the most powerful in all of Asgard and perhaps the Nine Realms, only Loki has the same level of magic as she and he is still learning, and Loki has stated many a time his mother is much more powerful than he is. Now if Thor and Loki are calm, if even we are relaxed then the world is not ending. The Stones are simply hidden and will remain hidden, was that not the agreement, Sir Fury?"

Fury's lips thinned a moment before he smirked, they underestimated the Aesir. The Scientists protested, but Fury gave them a blank stare and they left, moaning about not being able to examine the Stones. Maria snorted as she looked to Bucky wandering down the hall, holding a tray in his hands.

"Is something wrong with Loki?" She asked.

"Thor said that he was feeling unwell and he's making him rest and will keep him bedridden for a few days."

"Wait, can you get sick?" Tony asked the Warriors and Sif.

"We can, we are unsure of Loki... then again he's only Half Jotun, so it is possible he is susceptible to some ailments..." Sif mused thoughtful. "Though still, I did not think it possible."

"Loki is well, simply exhausted himself, we shall leave him be for a few days." Thor spoke up as he and Steve walked out of the hall. "Thank you, Sir Barnes for helping with the tray."

"You didn't look like you wanted to leave Loki unguarded... but you're here now..."

"Loki sent me away, I was hovering and he detests that... says it reminds him of how his brothers fretted and worried when he was but babe; any little sound or face he made, they would panic and worry themselves ill... While I do not know what having one's genitals frozen would do to a Jotun, I was not risking it."

The men all nodded in sympathy while the women snorted bemusedly. Sif chuckled and got up, patting Thor's shoulder.

"Brother, he does not mean it..." she grinned, "I'm sure once he's gotten some rest, he will be right as rain."

"Rain is my job, sister." Thor sulked.

Everyone laughed at the petulance lacing his voice.

"Alright enough... Since Loki's down for now, we will need to pick up the slack from his end. Now then I've gotten word from some of our agents down in Africa that a Mercenary Warlord by the name of Ulysses Klaw."

"I remember Ultron speaking to him..." Peitro spoke up. "The materials used to make the body down in the lab came from this man. It would seem that Ultron is going to attempt to acquire more..."

"We can't let that happen..." Bruce stated. "If he gets the material and builds another body, then what's the point of us luring him out?"

"He's not going to build another body... He needs the Cradle to do that and we have it and Dr. Helen Cho here." Tony stated, a severe look on his face. "He's getting material to build his own Iron Legion... I just detected someone hacking my Iron Man blue prints..."

"Shit... We need to get down there!" Clint growled, getting up.

"Alright. Rogers, Barnes! You're in charge of the team, Banner I'm gonna ask you to stay here, keep an eye on Loki. Thor you need to go with them-"

"We will go with the Avengers." Hogun and the other two Warriors stated, getting up.

"Thor cannot go with them with Loki feeling ill. If you have not noticed it by now, Loki keep's Thor's temperament under control and with him indisposed, who is to stop Thor from losing control?"

"I'm not that terrible."

The four friends gave him a look that said 'Shut up and sit in the corner... NOW!'

Thor huffed and looked away, grumbling about his temper not being as terrible as they implied, but he knew he was lying, somewhat. Before Loki, he wasn't terrible, after Loki he was considerably calmer.

"Alright, what is going on that you cannot be without Loki?" Fury asked, fed up with the not so discreet chatter that Thor wasn't as stable as he appeared to be.

"When it is relevant you will know." Thor stated, giving the bald man a dark look that implied that until Fury stopped lying to them, he wouldn't be as honest as he normally was. Besides what happens with him and the members of his Clutch is their business unless he gets out of hand. "Until then, you will have to wait and see... Now then, Sif, you know I do not need to say it."

"They are Clutch, we look after our Clutch, brutally if we must. We will try not to kill any humans, I cannot promise non-humans." She smirked and Thor chuckled at her.

"Good..." He smiled.

After some last minute orders and arrangements, the Avengers minus Thor, Frandral and Bruce, set off to try and head off Ultron. This was going to be the true test in faith and trust for the Maximoff Twins. If they can work with them, they will be free to do as they please, but if they betray them, they will be hunted down and locked away deep within SHIELD's Vaults...

Elsewhere, Laufey looked up from his book as the tub full of milk ripped and shortly after his wife sat up looking as she always had. Skin pale like the milk she was sitting in, her hair long and silky black and when she opened her eyes, the stunning green gems that shamed emeralds looked back at him. The milk had been replaced several times, infused with herbs and minerals, heated, chilled over the course of time until finally she was able to resurface. In meantime Glade had been helpful, keeping him informed of all the happenings outside of their little safe haven, teaching him the long history of his wife, who was not all she appeared to be and was not who she said she was, at least to a degree.

"Glade..." She called.

"Still no word from Dr. Selvig, my lady. However it seems multiple forces are at play here and a few days previous I sensed someone trying to invade the shields..." Came the cool voice of the elf like man, a towel in one hand a robe draped over the arm and in the other hand a basket full of hair care products. And a pair of slippers.

"Which shields?" She demanded.

"The ones protecting the Prince." He stated.

She growled and snatched the towel, furiously and vigorously drying herself off, grumbling and snarling under her breath before she dropped the towel, taking her robe and quickly donning it. She snatched the slippers and put them on before plopping in front of her vanity table as Glade came to set the basket down and begin fixing her hair, nonplussed by her rather bratty behavior.

"Is my son alright?"

"He was merely exhausted. He is most resilient." Glade almost sounded proud.

"Careful Glade, you're showing emotions..." Rhyg smiled, a tease of a smile at her lips.

"I do not know what you speak of." He stated, pulling a particularly hard knot out of her hair, making her yelp.

"Evil man servant!" She hissed.

"I've served you since before the first stages of Man began to claim the Earth. I have long since grown immune to your moods and threats." He huffed, sounding like he couldn't really care less.

"At least back then I got to enjoy you freaking out or panicking... now you just stand there and preform the perfect imitation of Spock." She sulked. "As much as I love my Star Trek, you suck."

"Illogical, Captain." Glade intoned and Rye burst into laughter.

"I'm not sure I understand what just happened." Laufey stated, setting his book to the side.

"Nothing, darling, just old humor. My other sons?"

"Prince Byleístr has rallied the races of Jotunheim, he is cordinnating with King Lucian of the Muspelheim." Glade stated.

"I see... I take it that Lucian has taken a Jotun Bride in the form of Helblindi?" She mused, smirking.

"Yes."

"What?! But-"

"We both have known for a long time, Laufey, that Helblindi has not wanted to rule as King. He takes after Fárbauti in being more a nurturer than King. And Loki has chosen his own path as well. He will stand beside Thor, son of Odin. And you've heard the reports. Byleístr has gathered our forces, is rallying them together under the House of Mimir's Flag. War is coming and it's happening on multiple fronts. Ragnarok is here and we both know it's impossible to stop it once it begins." Rhyg pointed out.

Laufey grumbled and sulked, he didn't want any of his sons to grow up, but sadly they have. On one hand he was happy two of his sons found happiness and from the sounds of things, he might have a grandchild on the way too! On the other hand, he was sad he missed the marriage ceremony for his eldest, though in all honesty he would never pair any of his children with a Fire Giant, and maybe, just maybe he was stubbornly clinging to the idea of Helblindi one day sitting on the Throne of Jotunheim.

"You are right, my love, though I do not have to be happy about it." He sulked.

"Of course, beloved... Glade, get me in contact with Hammer first and for most. I do not like that he decided he could trespass on my lands and build what he wanted. Next I need you to get me in contact with the dunder heads in charge of SHIELD and even the senile old fools leading HYDRA... I have to play Devil's Advocate before I can play Guardian Angel..." Rhyg sighed, stepping out of the stall.

Laufey admired the clean cut suit his wife was wearing, the skirt tight around her thighs and ending just a little above her knees and her heels making her legs look longer as the blouse and blazer hugged her torso so tight nothing was left to the imagination.

"Right away... Will you be meeting with the Prince?"

"Soon... I think it's time Loki earns his Title..." She smiled as Laufey shook his head fondly...


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Justin Hammer was use to getting his way either by his own means or taking it from others. He has been in the cut throat industry of manufacturing the newest latest tech from electric letter openers to Weapons of War. However there were very few things he has yet to sink his teeth into: the tech for Iron Man's suit and weaponry, currying favor with one Ryilia Nubia and receiving person invites to exclusive demos and gala events the woman hosts displaying her own little goodies and toys and finally seeing Tony Stark utterly, devastatingly humiliated.

So you can guess that he was shocked when his assistant walked in on her cute little kitten heels, his personal phone cradled in her hands like it was the Holy Grail. And then he was ecstatic when she informed him that a Mr. Glade Evergreen was on the line. Anyone and everyone who knew of Ms. Nubia knew that any and all public events were handled by her PA Glade Evergreen. Taking the phone from her he cleared his throat and said:

"Yellow? This is Justin Hammer speaking, how may I help you?" He purred coyly.

"Please refrain from speaking like that again..." came the unimpressed deadpan from the man he assumed to be Evergreen.

He was glad to know that even in private the man was as emotionless and humorless as ever. He's never seen him crack a smile let alone laugh.

"Ahem... right... May I help you?" Hammer tried again.

"Lady Nubia wishes to meet with you this afternoon to discuss private matters with you. Are you available to come to her Chateau?" Evergreen informed, a muffled shuffling of desk items indicating that he was prepping to write down whatever Hammer said.

Hammer scrambled to grab a pen and a post-it as he stammered out.

"I can rearrange my schedule! What time would be best for Ms. Nubia to see me?" He asked, grabbing his planner to look at his afternoon, he had nothing but personal time between lunch and the press meet at 7pm.

"Ms. Nubia has invited you to lunch, she normally eats between 1pm and 2:30pm."

"Perfect! I'm pencilling you now. May I have the address to the chateau?"

"There is no need. My Lady will send a car to pick you up from your office at 11:45 and then drive to you her chateau. You will be arriving at 1pm the earliest, 1:20pm the latest. She requests you bring with you any and all contracts you have going on currently and recently. That is all." and with that Evergreen hung up.

Hammer turned his own phone off and sat stunned. He couldn't believe it! He was personally invited to THE Ryilia Nubia's Chateau for a lunch meeting! He jumped up and began humming a rather terribly rendition of Micheal Jackson's Billy Jean, while doing a little victory dance. As far as he knew, Tony Stark has never, NEVER EVER been invited to such an event by the woman! He finally has a leg up on Tony! Now all he needs is the scematics for the Iron Man suit...

Trying to work for the next two hours was a valiant effort made in vain seeing as he looked at the clock every 45 seconds waiting for 11:45 to roll around! He had cleared his afternoon, had his assistant gather all his contracts and plans for all his projects recent past, current and near future. She set them up in a presentation order with pamphlets, dossiers and few 3D models with a USB loaded with slides and videos.

He was ready before 10am and was now restlessly waiting. At one point he changed out of his suit and put on a jogging suit and went to his personal gym to run a bit. By the time he was done jogging a mile, it was 11am, so he cooled down and went to shower and get dressed again. By 11:30 he was downstairs with everything packed neatly into large brief case. Not even ten minutes later a black really old model, an historic antique and classic, Rolls-Royce pulled up.

"Oh wow," He breathed, nearly dropping his brief case as the tall platinum haired man with purple eyes, whether they were natural or he wore colored contacts was hard to tell, stepped out from the driver's seat, making his way around to open the back door for him. "Is that... is that a 1910 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost? 40/50 HP?"

"Yes, it is, however when Lady Nubia's Great Grandfather first bought the car, it was 1902, it was in an accident which unfortunately too the Master's life and was reconstructed later as the care you see now. It use to be white, but the Master's Widow had it made black as a reminder of her lost husband, ever since the Nubia family has kept it, sparing no expense to keep it running and looking like new. My Lady is very fond of this car and I find myself protective of it as well. Not many PAs get to say they drive a classic early 1900s limousine." Glade stated, exuding an air of smug pride even if he protrayed no emotions or inflection in his voice. "Now then, if you would please? We have about two hours to drive."

Hammer quickly got in and Glade got back into the driver's seat after carefully shutting the door. Soon enough they were driving through the city and not long after they were heading out into the country side.

"If I may ask, where is Ms. Nubia's Chateau, and why do you call her Lady?" Hammer wondered.

"This is her Autumn Chateau and it is here in New England." Glade stated. "She has a number such homes world wide, and my family and I have served the Nubia family for generations."

Justin nodded, noting that while he got answers they were not the ones he was looking for. Nubia wasn't someone you could look up on the internet like normal people do. Trust him he's tried! All that pops up under her name are interviews, articles and either photos of her at red carpet events, black tie galas and even a few videos of her presentations and award ceremonies, other than that the woman was a virtual ghost. No social media accounts, not even a YouTube account for the of all things Holy! He's watched so many videos with peoples' theories on the woman's existence, to people who have legitimately met said woman.

Nothing dark or wrong could be found about her, it was like she was everything that was good in the world, which meant that she had something incredibly dark to hide. So lost in his thoughts was he that he hadn't noticed the time flying by nor that the open road was suddenly engulf in a sprawling lush forest. He snapped out of it when Evergreen stopped the car at a large Victorian styled gate, an intercom set in the pillar on driver's side, going both into and out of the estate. Glade was speaking with someone, a Mr. Gouro.

'Werewolf in French? That's a terrible name.' Justin thought, wondering if the name was giving to the unfortunate person because they had canine like features?

The gates opened with nary a sound and soon they were rolling down a lovely cobblestone road and parking outside of the mansion sized chateau, a valet was standing on the last step waiting for the car to stop. The moment Evergreen stepped out of the car, the young woman moved quickly to take the keys from him as he moved around the car and opened the door for Hammer, going to the boot of the car to remove his briefcase and the model before leading him up the stairs to the front door where an elderly man in a sharp, pin striped butler suit opened the door for them, speaking quickly with Evergreen, boring dribble about affairs of the estate.

"Mr. Hammer, I will set down your things in the madame's office and then lead you out to the stables. She is currently training on of her champion stallions." Evergreen spoke up before quickly disappearing off to one side of the grand foyer.

"She calls this a Chateau?" He wondered. It was more like a miniature palace. The walls were a charming soft canary yellow with black trimming, the floor was polished oak flooring, solid oak flooring and the chandelier hanging above him was made from white gold and crystals, shining like a freshly polished diamond. There were a few small tables, each with a porcelain vase full of flowers or some kind of plant set into the corners and a large centerpiece in the middle to draw the attention of those who walked in.

"Mr. Hammer, this way please." Glade suddenly appeared, startling the man who had been examining the flowers in the centerpiece.

"Lead the way..." He waved, trying to discreetly calm his racing heart.

He noted there were six entry ways, two on each side of the foyer, the doors open to reveal a library, a music room, a tea room and the public parlor room. The last two doors were on either side of the grand stair case on the opposite end of the room from the front door. The two doors lead into a hall to the wings of the house as well as the massive kitchen and family dining area for informal dinners Walking through the kitchen, Hammer's mouth watered at the scent of something savory, but spicy slowly cooking, the medium set woman standing like a Viking warrior guarding the stove, gave them a dark glare, daring them to try and sneak a peek let alone a lick before lunch was ready.

"Do not mind, Mrs. Wreath, she's mostly harmless." Glade spoke up as they walked out into another hallway that had a set of French doors that lead out into the back of the house. A wonderful garden danced out before him and he awed at the chaotic mess of colors organized into intricate patterns, waterways, mini waterfalls, a Koi pond and fountains set up in between sections or around them. They walked quickly through the garden, the gardeners were busy tending the flowering bushes and he noticed on either side was orchards that had more gardeners in them picking fruit.

"Whoa..." He breathed out, but he truly awed because once they ;left the garden and the Orchard, there were several large fenced pens, a few Stable houses and he had to guess about 30 or so horses. He was led to the center pen where a woman in crème riding pants, knee high boots, a crisp white blouse and a tight black vest was riding on a large stallion without a saddle or a bridle and reins! She held the horse's mane in her hands and held tight to his sides with her legs. They were running around an obstacle course, a man in almost stereotypical Rancher clothes was walking in a wide circle, a long pole in his hands that had a thin whip at the end, which he snapped with a command to make the horse comply. Sitting on a lawn chair, was a tall man dressed in a fine suit, watching the woman with an amused smile while he was sipping some tea.

"Mr. Lloyd, Lady Nubia, Lord Nubia, Mr. Hammer is here!" Glade called out. The woman on the horse turned sharply toward them and Hammer had a moment of panic, trying to clean himself up as the woman got closer before stopping the horse at the fence and looking down at them.

Justin Hammer was floored, she was stunning! But she looked like she was much younger than him! He's barely into his 30s!

"Mr. Hammer." She greeted. "Thank you Glade, for picking him up. I'm almost done with Formir." She patted the Stallion's neck, the horse bobbing his head at the touch. "If you will be patient for another 15 minutes, Mr. Hammer."

"By all means, take your time!" He squeaked out, cleared his throat and toned down his voice. "I have nowhere else I need to be, please continue."

"..." She looked him over, her green eyes sharp and almost penetrating int heir stare before she smirked. "Why not come have some tea with my husband? I'm sure you both could chat a little before we have lunch and get down to business, while you may have all the time in the world, I do not. I'm a very busy woman and I detest having my time wasted."

"Understandable and thank you, my lady." He bowed to her, the strange cool sensation at the base of his neck telling him that he bow or risk incurring the woman's rare, however passive aggressive it seemed.

Glade led him around the pen to the gate and once he was seated on one of the lawn seats, tea poured and prepped to his preference (he never had tea before, but he didn't want to step on anyone's toes right now.) and a small plate with tea cakes and cookies was set before him. Glade vanished after that and Hammer watched Nubia as she guided the horse through the course with ease, Mr. Lloyd, doing all he could to try and annoy or even agitate the massive beast.

"She's very skilled..." He murmured.

"Indeed she is... She's a natural." The man spoke up, startling Hammer.

Justin blinked the man before him was, in short, a mountain of a man. Not only was he tall, he was wide set, but not at all fat or bulky, he was toned to a military sleekness. His eyes were an icy grey, almost white blue, his hair was cut short, black like his wife's but with streaks of gray beginning from his temples and leading back. He was clean shaven, his features sharp and regal. The aura coming from him was cold, but powerful, commanding respect and instilling fear all at once.

"Laufey Nubia. Husband to Ryilia Nubia and father to our sons, sadly they are all away at school, I'm afraid you will not be meeting them today." He introduced himself with a small not just this side of arrogant, something taught to those of high born society.

"Justin Hammer of Hammer Industries. I'm-"

"A merchant of Death, I know." Laufey cut in, sharp like a blade and cold like ice. "My wife knows you well, she knows everyone very well. I've been married to her for nearly 20 years and there is one thing I know about her, she keeps her friends and her enemies close."

"I- I am not an enemy-"

"We shall see..." He stated, sipping his tea as he watched his wife guide the behemoth of a horse over a four post fence, the tips of his hooves just kissing the top post, the horse hardly landing before she had it racing into a patch of thorn bushes, the beast clearing it in a single leap and coming to a halt before Mr. Lloyd, the man offering his hand to the lady as she swung down from the horse and began to gently sooth its neck and head, praising the stallion for his good preformance.

They walked over to them, talking about what they would use the horse for, he was strong and he was fast, but race horses were usually smaller, sleeker, but he was too good for farm work.

"Well I've been meaning to show my boys how to ride horses, so perhaps I can gift him to one of them..." She mused.

"Of course, I had best go cool Formir down and give him something to drink." Lloyd agreed.

She smiled quickly grabbing a few sugar cubes from the bowl and letting Formir lick them off her palm, the sugar should perk him up a bit and it seemed to ease his ticking muscles as he relaxed. Waving off her Ranch Hand, Nubia turned to Hammer, offer him her left hand instead of the right since it was covered in horse drool.

"Hello Mr. Hammer, I'm Ryilia Nubia." She smiled brightly, but it did not reach her eyes. "I called you hear because I received a few calls, about you attempting to build on my land, land that I have reserved as a wild life preserve..." Her tone dropped to something colder than ice and it made Justin pale.

"I'm sorry about that! I don't know what happened! I-"

"You knew exactly what you were doing, you ignored your contractor's warnings and advice. You did not call any of my people to ask for a grant or even a meeting to see if I would consider a grant. You just took what you wanted. However the damage was minimal, thought I'm annoyed that some of the oldest trees had been cut down and now have to be replaced with saplings." She growled out coldly. "It takes hundreds of years for trees to grow to adult hood and even then they never stop growing! You carelessly cut down hundreds of years of my family's life away!"

Justin yelped as her grip became punishing, but then she let him go and it was as if she never got angry in the first place. She wiped off her hands and picked up her cup of tea, that her husband had prepped while she tore into Hammer.

"I- I'm sorry-"

"Not yet you're not." She snarled lowly then smoothed her face into a charming smile, her eyes an eerie toxic green as she sipped at her tea, "I've always kept my thumbs on the pulses of any and all businesses, I can make you or break you and I'm sure you heard of my friend Star Quickpaw of Quickpaw International." He paled, pissing off one of these women was bad, but both? He'd be lucky to keep the clothes on his back! "She found some very interesting things of yours littering the war torn villages in the Mild East, she's not very happy. And I'm not either. Sure we found a few belonging to Stark, but at Stark has turned over a new leaf and is trying to clean up the mess he unintentionally caused."

"He has the Iron-"

"Iron Man was made to protect the innocent, to defend the helpless. You see the Iron Man suit as a cash cow, others a Sword..." She growled low.

"But this Stark and even we see it as a shield." Laufey finished, setting his cup down and looking down his nose at Hammer. "Stark may not have been the one to kill millions of innocence, not even his father, but the blood that has been shed by their inventions, by their weapons will haunt them forever. Their hands are forever stained in the blood of the innocent."

"And so are yours, but you knew who you were selling to, you knew that many innocent people were going to suffer, you pulled the trigger." Ryilia sniped out, her smile friendly, which made it much more frightening. "And my people tell me you are hoping to get your hands on the Iron Man suite to mass produce it. All me to show you what that future looks like..." She hissed and before Hammer could react her hands grabbed his face and he was staring into solid white eyes.

Everyone on the Nubia estate didn't even react at the horrific scream that echoed out, almost as if they heard nothing. Glade looked up at the scream, from where he was setting the table for lunch, shaking his head as he hummed 'Them Bones' to himself...

Loki woke up, feeling like he was crushed under a pregnant Frost Beast, but that was to be expected from having nearly depleting his magic reserves and having absorbed the vast amounts of magic from the 'Stones.' He slowly sat up, feeling terribly weak, but at the same time well rested. He was sore and was sure to be so for at least a couple of days, but nothing he couldn't handle or remedy with the right tea and ointment. Looking around the room he was glad that nothing was frozen solid, the bed however was a nest of snow and soft ice which was quickly melting away into nothingness once more, leaving the bed cold but dry.

"Loki?" He turned to the voice and smiled seeing Thor quickly walk over to him, cupping his face and pressing a soft kiss to his royal violet lips. "You are well?"

"Yes, just soreness and some lingering weakness, but I'm more than capable of leaving the room and once more using my magic, but nothing big and strenuous." Loki assure him, kissing his lips once more and then sighing as his body changed to his Midgardian form once more, the sun no longer blindingly bright to his red eyes and the pleasant warmth of the room no longer humid on sensitive blue flesh. His hair remained the same until he waved his hands over it, magically shortening the length so he did not have to actually cut it.

"Come, I'm sure you wish to walk around, it's been almost a week, will this happen again with the other 'Stones?' If so, we will have to secret you away." Thor murmured, rubbing a rough thumb over the swell of Loki's cheek

"I did three of them at once... If we find the others on their own, I will be tired, yes, but not to this point unless I do all three again." Loki assured. "Now then, I am famished... Let us see what there is to eat."

Thor smiled as Loki slipped from the bed, naked save for the loincloth hiding his dual sex. Slipping on a pair of skinny black jeans and a deep gold and black dress shirt with a green beanie upon his head, Loki slipped on his house slippers, a pair of black kitty slippers, and made his way out into the main room. Thor followed behind him, filling him in on all he missed and chuckling at the vicious bite his little Prince had with his comments and opinions.

They walked into the main room just as the others came off the elevator, all yelling and growling at each other. Loki sighed, waved a hand and everyone froze in place, only their eyes able to move and the looks they were trying to convey were not friendly at the moment.

"I will unfreeze you in a moment because I really shouldn't be using magic right now, but I am still under the weather and would very much appreciate it if you would all keep it down..." Loki said, making a dismissive gesture with his hand and the others unfroze, grumbled and all took seats on the sofas or armchairs. Bruce came out of his room, looking sleepy and a bit thinner than before.

Thor headed into he kitchen, checking the cabinets and the fridge before grabbing what he needed and setting to work cooking, a secret talent that may or may not have won over Loki's affections in the past.

"I take it you were sent on a mission and it went... south?" He mused.

"Von Strucker's in hiding right now, but Ultron was looking to build himself an army." Natasha started.

"He was ready for us that was for sure..." Clint grunted.

"Klaw wasn't easy either..." Pietro sighed as he held Wanda close to him, kissing her temple as she looked haunted. "I don't know what happened, but somehow Ultron got into Wanda's head..."

"He... he plans... plans to make... a meteor... out of our hometown to smash... to smash into the earth and... and kill all life on the planet!" She sobbed out, but then after a moment seemed to gain her senses and wiped her face. "For something that is not human, he wants to be. He's afraid... he's afraid of not be accepted, of being alone even among his army."

"And this Klaw?"

"Dead, Ultron killed him and then a few Hydra goons popped up. Over all everything went to shit." Tony sighed. "I don't like that bastard and too think I designed most of him before Hydra stole it and finished it... I am sick of people using my tech to kill millions of innocent people! I need a drink..."

"Here." Thor handed him a drink, it was thick and murky. "Don't ask; just swallow it."

Loki shook his head at Tony, eyes wide with worry, but the brunette gulped it down, almost regretting it but after he finished it, he burped and for a moment seemed fine before passing out.

"Aesir Ale." Thor shrugged. "I've been brewing some since we came here." He smiled. Loki shook his head at him. "We need some thing to make us relaxed. I know you do not care for the taste Loki, but it has helped you calm down some."

"I'm not drinking that!" Loki hissed, making a face when Thor handed him a cup anyway.

Loki frowned at the ale, handing it off to Sif, who happily downed it and threw her cup at Thor, yelling for another making the blonde roll his eyes.

"Loki, if she gets drunk, you will deal with her." Thor warned as he served the Warriors 3.

"I am sure Lady Darcy will enjoy her drunken affections." Loki smiled.

Darcy chuckled as she and Bucky picked up Tony and laid him on the sofa.

"Alright, our plan of action is to get Ultron out of the running as soon as possible. I'm sure that after he killed Klaw he took what he was after and if Wanda is correct, he's planning on building an army rather than a replacement body." Loki sighed, rubbing his brow, smiling in thanks when Thor handed him a plate of finger foods to nibble on while he finished cooking.

"I'm leaning more towards the Army." Steve sighed, Bucky coming to lean on his shoulder from behind, eyes closed as he seemed to sleep standing up and against Steve's back.

"And he's planning to kill us off using your hometown... Alright, looks like we are heading for the Ukraine." Bruce sighed...

"We need to keep this as contained as possible-"

The computer suddenly chirped and Bruce went to see what it was about, suddenly he gasped and rushed over to Tony's prone form, shaking the man hard to wake him. It took a moment but Tony woke up, feeling like he spent a week drinking and was really regretting it right now.

"We found Jarvis!" Bruce yelled.

"What!? Move!" Suddenly sober, or at least having enough adrenaline pumping to mask the hanger and the concentration of alcohol in his system for the time being. "Loki! We need you!"

"Thor, let Sif finish cooking and you come as well... Shall we gentlemen?"

The four headed down to the lab as Sif took over, after Thor told her what he had been busy preparing for dinner, Voltstagg helping her out, seeing as he was the one raised in the Kitchen his whole life...

It took all night, however between the four men, they managed to download Jarvis' memory banks into the cradle before they hit a brick wall. Loki had researched the spell he found, but it was too short for what they needed and if he were to constantly cast it, he ran the risk of casting his own soul into the body. When this was brought up, Tony had become sullen and was trying to find any and all alcohol to dull the ache he was feeling for Jarvis. Bruce had given Loki a small smile, a pat on the shoulder with a a small 'you did your best' before leaving the lab to try and calm Tony down.

Thor grunted and snarled in annoyance, they had been so close!

"Come Loki, we will not be of much help right now, best look into alternatives."

"That's just it, Thor! I would have to go home! Home to Jotunheim to find any other spell and it's too dangerous! And who's to say if we got back there safely that my brothers and father will not lock me away to keep me safe? I've let everyone down-" Loki gasped feeling the bite in his neck, moaning a moment later as Thor pulled back.

"Enough!" Thor growled, eyes taking on that Beastly look. "You will find a way, Loki. As you've said before it is only a matter of time. Your knowledge of spells and magic are vast. I'm sure you can find something here in Midgard as well, but for now, we will have to focus on something else. Let us focus on Ultron and HYDRA."

Loki sighed, nodding as Thor nibbled up the column of his neck before pressing a kiss to his forehead.

"I hate it when you make sense." Loki grumped, smiling when Thor purred like a smug cat who got the cream and the canary. "Come, we might as well get to work now, hopefully Lord Stark will not be too depressed."

They left the lab, but Loki looked to the cradle one last time, fingering his bracelet...

"Alright Avengers, lets get in and take out Ultron and his army with as minimal damage and casualties as possible." Steve began, he and Bucky were coming in on motorcycles as Bruce, Clint and Sam were coming in on the jet. Thor and Tony flew in on their own. Wanda piggybacked on her brother as he ran them into the town. All of them coming in from various directions, anger and worry rolling off them in waves.

They had gotten careless, had let their guard down and they paid for it dearly. The Tower was raided by HYDRA dogs, the Scepter was stolen, the lab smashed up and anything of value (the Iron Man blueprints and the few suits remaining), taking the cradle as well. And if that hadn't hurt enough, Natasha was kidnapped by Ultron and Loki taken by HYDRA. It took the warriors 3 and Sif manhandling Thor onto the landing deck and calling to Heimdall to take them home, to calm the Thunderer down before he killed millions of innocent lives in a fit of rage. Bruce had to use every ounce of his self restraint and meditation techniques to keep from Hulking out.

It wasn't really a secret, but at the same time, it wasn't public knowledge that Natasha and Bruce were starting a relationship, it was slow and tentative, both had issues with intimacy without something going wrong, neither one liked talking about their pasts, they had so many demons and skeletons in their closets they could build a second Great Wall of China. Nut regardless of the issues, there was something there, something new and Bruce wanted Natasha back!

Fury hadn't been happy learning that Stark Tower had been compromised, Tony growled at him saying that it was only a matter of time before it was attacked, seeing as SHIELD was pretty much running out of his Tower! They painted the bulls-eye on it, their enemies had to be blind, deaf and dumb as bricks to miss it! Calling in the people he trusted most, Fury had his Helicarrier ready within a few short hours and even now, Fury was working his people to the bone trying to find their Russian Femme Fatal and the only person able to calm Thor down. Sif stood at his side, coordinating with the Warriors Three, who were dropped off hours before, the three men casing the town, finding any leads and oddities that could help them figure out Ultron's Endgame.

"Picking up some readings..." Tony stated. "Friday, be a dear and tell daddy what they are?"

"That's creepy." Sam stated.

"Iron Legion, Mr. Stark." Friday stated, her tone calm and cool, a slight inflection hinting at sarcasm filtering in.

"Thank you, now then-"

"They are not ours." She cut in. "Scrap them."

"My thoughts exactly." Tony grinned as he came in for a landing.

"Don't engage! We have to evacuate the civilians!" Steve yelled into the comms

"No offense, Lord Rogers, but that will not be possible. Ultron knows we are here..." Thor stated, floating in mid air as he glared down at the corrupted AI as he smirked and flew himself up to the Thunderer.

"Ah, you're Thor... I wonder, can I turn a God into a Machine?" Ultron asked. "And please, continue talking to your friends, it makes it easier for me to know what you are all planning!"

Thor said nothing, glaring at him before he glanced over his shoulder. Ultron frowned before gasping when Thor suddenly punched him in the face and a moment later he got caught on the wing of the Jet, only to be kicked off by Sam, who then opened his wings and took off flying after the machine while Thor dropped down to the ground, startling the natives, who stared at the strange man who was ordering them to leave their homes in an orderly fashion. When no one moved, Thor roared at them, making them scream and run in terror.

"Thor-"

"We need Loki so it's best we do not piss him off anymore than he is..." Bruce cut off Steve's reprimand. "Looks like Ultron's Legion is coming online, we had better get going if we want to minimize everything."

"Right, Avengers! Take them out with all prejudice!" Steve ordered.

"Right..."

"Thor, Hogun needs aid!" Sif called out. "Voltstagg, guard the women and children! Frandral-"

"I'm helping the Elderly! I need a hand over here! I'm in the northern area of Village!" Frandral yelled out as he was helping an old woman down from the stairs, passing her to a fireman who carried her off to a convey truck to set her in it with a number of others.

"On my way." Bucky affirmed as he broke away from his lover, giving him a smirk before putting on his mask and driving off.

Steve jumped from his bike when one of Ultron's drones tried to attack him. The pompous AI talking through all his units to the Avengers, asking why they were trying to stop the inevitable.

"It's called human nature!" Tony snapped.

"Sir, five Legions on your six, a child and their dog trapped on the roof below you, the building is unstable and about to collapse." Friday stated, sounding vaguely worried.

"We've got him, Stark..." Wanda's voice filtered through and sure enough Tony caught a glimpse of something red zipping by too quick to follow under him.

"The boy?" He asked.

"Wanda is bring him to the convey, I'm going to gather more civilians. And the boy's puppy is with him as well." Pietro told him.

"Alright..." Tony flipped over and shot the five drones, making sure to hit them in the main CPU so that way they couldn't come back to life nor could Ultron possess them.

It was a mad dash all around, the Avengers working in teams and in perfect tandem. They knew they couldn't save everyone, but they couldn't stop to find the dead or missing. They knew deep down that no matter what happens after this, the world would see that this catastrophe was the Avengers fault. As if they didn't have enough shit on their minds and weighing heavily on their hearts.

Peitro ran through each building in his sector, taking down drones as they came, the conveys were heading out of the city as fast as they could, the usual laws about crossing borders were temperarily ignored as all forms of military personnel came to help with the evac and containing the threat.

"You need to get these people far away, at least 50 miles away!" Peitro shouted at the general as he was shouting his own orders. "We don't know if those machines are hardwired to explode!"

"What are you doing?" Tony suddenly spoke up in his ear.

"Trying to get as many innocent lives out of harms way as possible. Who's to say Ultron will not cause a massive explosion to take not only us out, but all of Sokovia!"

"Right... well you might wanna tell the Sargent that I'm detecting Ultron attempting to hack all military nukes and missiles world wide."

"Shit!" Peitro cursed as the other man looked at him with a glare and impatience.

"I'm in charge-"

"There you are Quicksliver... No running now, or I might hurt your precious little sis-"

Peitro didn't even let the Drone finish talking, before he was quickly dismantling it in chunks before he stood with the manchical equivalent of a heart in his hands, panting and glaring at the now pale and shivering General.

"You said 50 miles right?"

"Yes and now the Head machine is trying to access nukes world wide, go ahead call your superiors if you doubt me." Peitro waved his hand with a look of indifference upon his face.

The man didn't need to call because his second in command ran up to him to inform him just that and that they are to do as the Avengers order them to. So withing moments the filled conveys were hightailing it out of dodge while empty ones were sent in to get as man people, living, injured and dead out of the way. This gave the Avengers plenty of time to wipe out the first wave of drones.

They met up at the church, which was in the dead center of the village, a large valve of some kind sitting in the middle of the room.

"Shit..." Bucky grumbled, giving it a few taps and kicks to be sure that it was solid. "Someone has a literal sense of humor... This is the Tip of the iceberg..."

"Not funny." Clint grumbled out. "You holding up okay, Scarlet?"

"Fine... but... I think I will be very sick later..." She grumbled out, she was covered in oil, dust and blood.

"Sad thing is. You will have to get use to this... we can't save everyone." Clint told her as kindly as he could. Thor sniffed around, snarling.

"What-" Tony began before Ultron floated down to them, smiling smugly at them.

"Well, well, well... I've got you where I want you." He started, smirking at them. "Ohh, but you are missing a few people? I wonder who they could be? I don't see Agent Romanov, nor Dr. Banner... Or that charming, if annoying young man."

The Aesir all snarled lowly, how dare that walking toaster oven insult their Loki!

"Where are out friends!?" Steve snapped.

"Well our lovely little spy is sitting secure- AUGH!"

"I'm sitting where now?" Natasha spoke up, her fist jammed into the openings of his 'ribs' while the high powered taser bracelets she wore sent out high volts of electricity into his more delicate insides before he was suddenly smashed into a wall by the Hulk, who loomed over Natasha like a giant green guard dog.

"Ouch, I think I actually felt that..." Ultron laughed out, patting himself off and rubbing 'sore' spots as he did so. "So that means the young man isn't here... I wonder... ah there he is, sitting all nice and snug in a glass cell with... Oh my, I thought you humans were exaggerating the Roach infestation and how truly stubborn they are, I didn't realize they grew to human sizes." He stated after hacking through codes and firewalls until he got into the HYDRA mainframe to use their cameras to find Loki.

Tony was tense, Friday had piggybacked her way into their mainframe as well and was now wrecking havoc on their systems, she may not be as good as her little brother, but she still got shit done.

"So if he's there, who's keeping the dog on his leash?" Ultron mused.

Thor dropped his hammer then, unclasped his cape and was about to remove his armor, intent on showing the arrogant piece of machinary how much of a 'dog' he really was when suddenly a golden collar of light appeared from nowhere around his neck and was pulled taught, restraining him as he growled, but then calmed.

"Hmm?" Ultron was curious as to what that light was, but as quickly as it appeared it vanished all over again. "Well then... Time to die..."

He summoned up the rest of his army, a nearly endless wave of drones breaking through the ground zombie style, flooding out of manholes, and fallout shelter stairwells to converge where the Avengers were. It quickly became a chaotic mess. Scrap metal, sparks and rubble was flying all around, while the Avengers stood in a circle around the valve like structure. At one point Tony ordered everyone down, spinning in place and firing several lasers that sliced and diced a large portion of the army down before it was followed up by Thor, grabbing up his Iron Lady, holding her aloft as he began to summon a mighty and deadly thunderstorm, the collar appearing once more around his neck.

"Friends, flee." he ordered, eyes such a pale shade of icy blue they were nearly white.

Everyone scrambled away, giving Thor a ten block radius to literally rain hell on what was left of the army, while they kept the drones contained. The light show wasn't a disappointment and the encore was deafening, clouds funneled down, before expanding at the bottom again to from a hammer that sparked thunder and lightning from its depths.

"Holy... shit..." breathed Sam as he stared in awe of the cloud.

"Should we allow him to use that?"

"We don't have Loki here and I personally don't want to get near him." Frandral stated. "Sif you seeing this?"

"Yes! And I've got to say, Thor is as surprising as Loki is... and we've known Thor since birth." She gasped out with a breathy laugh.

What no one knew was that Thor summoned the storm cell to not only fry the rest of Ultron's army and to disable the massive drill/rocket/whatever this thing was, but to feed the power along the magic collar to Loki, who had figured out how to bring Jarvis back to life without endangering everyone. The Scepter, as it turns out is not just a Medium, the stone in its claw housed the forth 'Infinity Stone.' The Mind 'Stone' as it was. It would not only bring Jarvis back from the dead, it would also be safe guarded by him because without it he would die again.

However, what little he could see in the visions Loki sent him, and the strained telepathic bond between them, he learned he was back in New York, having never left, but locked somewhere where his powers were not so much drained, but muted. And Hydra was taking advantage now to begin the Chitauri invasion...


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

A massive bolt of lightning roared its way down out of the cloud, striking Mjolnir's head, the waves of electricity danced its way down the shaft and into Thor, who grabbed the valve like structure, which now that he was somewhat paying attention to it looked like one of the canisters for Stark's more volatile materials, a Bomb if he remembered correctly. The waves of energy flowed through him into the bomb, overriding and frying the circuitry. Unseen by the others the electricity was centering on his collar and flowing through the chain to Loki. His only worry was that the power was too much for the Jotun, that it might hurt him, but he had to have faith that the Prince was skilled enough and knew the risks.

Ultron roared in anger as he watched in horror as his drones dropped, sparking and smoking as they slowly melted into pools of liquid metal, even the detonator for the bomb was melting under Thor's hand. The thunder around them was so loud, the world was literally muted, no sound could be heard no matter how loud or low. Thor only stared at the AI as it shouted and cursed, but its words fell on deaf ears. Finally it tried to attack Thor, but Thor unleashed a super charged EMF pulse that fried and short circuited Ultron before he made it within 10 feet of the god. Feeling a tug on his collar, Thor brought Mjolnir down on the housing of the bomb, pushing all of the power into, destroying it down to its base before redirecting the excess power back into the sky to disperse safely.

But when he turned to look, Ultron was gone. Cursing lowly, he looked around frantically for the coward...

"Sir! Whatever Thor did, it stopped the bomb!" Agent Hill called out as she showed him the results of the scans. "Unfortunately, he melted all and any metal under the entire city."

"It's an acceptable loss, we'll get in contact with Stark's people and get a head start on repairing the damages-"

"Sir, this was just faxed to us." Coulson interrupted, handing him the sheet of paper.

"... Are you serious?" Fury asked after reading it.

"Very, she has her people already handling the injured, dead and the damages. She's willing to act as the shield for the Media Hellfire coming out way." Coulson stated.

"Who is this She?" Sif demanded.

"A woman named Nubia. Or at least her surname is Nubia, we only know her as R." Hill told her.

She nodded her head, curious about this woman, did she have the gift of foresight? Well she would find more out later, when they got Loki back he would be most interested in meeting this Nubia woman. She turned back to the computer she was at, it was like one of the Soul Board that Lady Eir uses in her Healing Wing. While not the same function, she was able to figure out what she wanted to do and how to do it. Opening communication with the others, she began relying orders to them, that Lady Nubia would be acting as Shieldmaiden for them against angry innocents.

Frandral just sighed in relief that it seemed Ultron was gone for good. That is until a familiar voice spoke up to them all.

"I'm afraid you are mistaken, Ultron jumped bodies to a lone drone outside of the city. However I have encountered him; he attacked and I destroyed him. While I was idling I took the time to eradicate every trace of Ultron from the Internet, he will not be returning."

"JARVIS!" Everyone cried out in happiness.

"Yes... however, I think a new name is in order seeing as I've been reborn..." Jarvis sounded amused to them. "Perhaps... Vision? I have been gifted with remarkable Sight... Ah, I was informed by Mr. Loki that he is well, but you may wish to return to New York... We have a Chitauri Infestation.."

Fury began ordering everyone to move, it seemed that Nubia had foresight to take care of the ruins of Sokovia and allow them to get on track with the next world disaster.

"Get your asses on to New York now!" He yelled at them.

"Right." Came the group response...

Loki was exhausted, mild burns from the electricity raced up his hands and arms, but overall he was proud of himself. Vision had been kind to take him along to help his friends and lover, but he chose to remain behind. He needed to figure out how to get to the Cube seeing as the Scepter was now broken. It seems that the field protecting the Cube was created by both Dr. Selvig and the Scepter impenetrable, however he had noticed in in the seemingly unintelligible scribbles and equations the good doctor decorated his cell walls with had a way to reverse the field, to close the portal.

"... in here, Lord Schari..." Strucker's voice could be heard as the heavy steel doors to his prison was opened and a tall insectoid walked up to the glass of his prison.

"Greetings, Prince Loki... I have been told many things about you, but I see you do not look like a Jotun..." The male murmured, his eyes were almost reptilian in general shape and design, spread far on his skull, sunken in slightly while the exoskeleton bone structure of his face stood out stark within his helmet, the golden grown around his brow a dead giveaway of who he was to his people. He had no ears from what Loki could see and his neck was very thick, full of holes that quivered and would dilate rhythmically.

'Hmm, gill like respiratory system. Their necks are thick and bone plated too... Hmm maybe finding the soft spots will make killing them easier...' Loki thought as he looked him over, 'thick bodied and musculature, internal genitalia, three fingered hands and toes. Feelers seem to be hidden from sight, mandibles are hidden in the jaws... opposable thumbs...'

"Hmm, I understood that you liked to talk..." Schari hummed, noticing that Loki said nothing to him, those jewel like eyes of his trailing over him slowly from head to toe. If the Chitauri Prince stood straighter, puffed up his chest and flexed his being to appear bigger, more appealing, that was his business.

"I speak plenty, however I have nothing to say to you..." Loki stated calmly. Turning his eyes away from the bug and back to the wall of windows, seeing the city of New York coming into view. "I have a sudden urge to use a slipper to squish you."

Schari bristled at the rude dismissal, pounding a fist on the glass, cracking it a little as Loki looked back at him lazily, an unimpressed look upon his face.

"Please, I've seen Frostlings scarier than you." Loki stated and suddenly the glass frosted over both inside and out, making the Insectoid pull back with a hiss as the chill of the ice burned him.

"Are you alright, my lord?"

"I am well... Let the little icicle enjoy what little freedom he has left... Now explain to me how you lost not only the Cradle but also the Scepter..." Schari ordered as they walked away, unaware of Loki wiping a bit of frost away and grinning at their retreating backs.

"A slipper is too good for him... maybe I can find a can of hairspray and use my fire magic?" Loki mused before turning away, frosting the glass once more, closing his eyes to center himself as his Midgardian flesh melted away, his clothes being magicked into his warrior dress. "Thor, hurry..."

It was an hour or two later that they landed near Stark Tower, Loki in magic sealing shackles, courtesy of the Chitarui, a collar locked on his throat with a steel muzzle clasped tightly onto his face. He glared menacingly at these bugs, unlike most Mages, he didn't slowly rely on his magic, he only need to wait for the right moment. Just the right moment to take out not only his captors, but also the portal...

The Helicarrier was coming up on New York, the Avengers all gathered in the war room where the Heads of SHIELD were praising and cutting them down for what they did in Sokovia. They honestly thought that threatening Thor would get their point across that they held all the power, but Thor just rolled his eyes and emanated enough of an EMF for them to visibly see it, Steve and Bucky moving away from him, feeling the chilling heat of it race up their arms.

"Ms. Nubia is already cleaning up the mess, taking care of everything in Sokovia. We have a situation in New York, so threatening one the people helping us handle these creatures, is not the brightest idea you have." Fury stated.

"He may be helping us now, how do we know he won't suddenly turn on us?"

"HYDRA has something that belongs to me... I want him back." Thor stated. "My loyalty is to him and him alone. I do not care what you mortals do, however if he tells me to offer aid, I offer it."

"And we are loyal to Thor, we follow him." Sif stated for herself and the Warriors 3.

"How-"

"Sir! You need to see this..." Hill interrupted as she clicked a remote opening another vid screen up to show multiple flying objects, a few clicks and they got close ups.

"Holy shit!? Alien Roaches?!" Tony gaped.

"Where's my newspaper..." Bucky grumbled looking idling to his sides and under the table for a newspaper to roll up.

"Wait! Close in on that one there!" Darcy cried out, jumping up and running up to the screen, pointing at the one she was talking about and Maria did as told. A few more clicks in on the satellite imaging, she and the others gasped. Von Strucker was riding one of the flying scooters, that is what they looked like and Darcy would not be told otherwise! With him was Loki in chains, however he wasn't how he normally looked.

A dark ominous growl filled the room and all eyes turned to Thor, who was standing up, walking up to the screen, seeming to study it before he growled out in the AllSpeak, Sif and Frandral snapping sharp salutes as Hugon bowed and Voltstagg heft his battle ax grinning brightly.

"We'll be arriving within the next 10 minutes, our priority is getting as many civilians as far from the battle zone as possible, getting Dr. Selvig and Loki back safely and making sure that no more of those Roaches get through." Fury stated, ignoring his bosses, to order his people.

Nat, Steve, Bucky and Clint all got up to head for the Quinn Jet while Banner shuffled out to the Hulk Drop hanger. Tony quickly donned his suit, cursing seeing as he would need to switch his suits. As soon as possible. Vision following him out as the Twins shuffled, unsure what to do before Nat's voice over the intercom called them to the Quinn Jet. The warriors followed Thor to the top deck where they would freefall into the city. Being raised in a Dragon Clutch, they had to develop a love for heights, be fearless falling from very high places, with no guarantee that they will have a soft landing, and okay they had to be slightly mental. Only slightly. Sam followed Tony out as well, his flight suit ready to go at any time.

"Stark, I've called Col. Rhodes. He is en route now." Fury said into the com.

"Rhody? Awesome!" Tony smiled.

"Sir, Col. Rhodes will not be happy with this." Vision stated.

"What he said." Friday echoed.

"Seriously!? I'm being ganged up on!" Tony groused making the others chuckle.

"Alright, Avengers! Move out!" Steve ordered and everyone took off.

"Wait! Where are the Warriors!?" Sam asked as he took off behind Tony and Vision.

"Shit!" Tony dove under the carrier only to see Banner dropping out, Hulking out on his way down. Not far behind him were the warriors, who moved as if they were flying like heat seeking missiles at the Chitauri flying about the city. "What the hell?"

Sif pulled out her sword and landed on a flying scooter, her sword stabbing into the the driver as she wrapped her legs over the gunner's neck, twisting her hips and snapping his neck. She pulled her self free and fell onto a building, landing in a crouch, smiling as she dove at another pair as they zoomed by. Frandral landed on one, kicked both Chitauri off of it, and after a quick glance, figured out how to drive the thing into another pair, jumping off before they collided, blowing up both scooters and the Chitarui. Voltstagg canonballed onto another pair, smashing right through their scooter and landing in a pool of some penthouse. Hogun pulled out a whip and latched it onto the back of a scooter, hurling throwing knifes with pinpoint accuracy at any Chitauri he passed, killing them or maiming them.

"Well sir, it seems they do not need rescuing... should we rescue the enemy from them?" Vision asked, a hint of sarcasm filling his voice as he floated calmly beside Tony and Sam, both of whom looked amused and awed.

"Naah... let's whip out the roach spray!" Tony crowed and dove into the group of them, firing weapons of all kinds at the as he began racing through the city.

"The hell is going on down there?" Steve asked.

"Nothing, just that you're not the only person who likes jumping without a parachute." Sam stated.

"Captain, 6 on our 9!" Clint yelled.

"Got them..." Bucky growled as he dove from the plan, landing on a scooter under them, using it as a spring board to launch him back up to the three on the ship's left side, taking them out.

"Scarlet, Captain get down there! Quicksilver-" Clint odered.

"You're too slow Barton..." Pietro chuckled, having already left and was on the ground taking out any Chitauri he saw, getting civilians trapped in buildings out and directing them away from the fighting.

Wanda carried herself and Steve down to the nearest building before the Captain took off to take out anything and everything in his way. She sat on the rough, hurling AC units, breaking water towers and the like to take out more of the flying scooters. Hulk landing on the building across from her, smashing a hand full of Chitauri into a grayish smear on its surface before he lunged for another group.

Thor summoned lightning, the flashes of light striking too quick for the aliens to avoid or even see coming at them. Others met Mjolnir up close and personal, others met unfortunate ends in Thor's hands, the bloodlust grin on his face wide and dangerous, his eyes almost glowing with it. Each Chitarui he came across he demanded to know where Loki was.

"Clint, do you see where they are coming from!?" Tony asked. "If they are tying to plan an invasion they need somewhere that can generate a lot of power!"

"Like a dam?" Sam asked.

"No... It would have to be something more self reliant- Something arrogant and obvious..." Tony suddenly realized as he saw Stark Tower appear from behind a few skyscrapers.

"We've found the hub, please converge on Stark Tower." Vision stated.

"Sir, they've just stepped off the Elevator with Mr. Loki." Friday chimed in.

"On my way..." Tony stated. "Thor, Friday's got a visual on Loki. Heading to the Tower now."

"... On my way..." He promised darkly.

Vision nodded and they landed on the deck, Friday activating the Suit Ring, which began taking off the Iron Man suit as Tony walked along the deck into his home, all the while he was watching Von Strucker, one the Roach fuckers and a very Blue Loki.

"Now, normally you call and ask to come over to someone's home. It's rude that you just invited yourselves to my home and even installed something on my roof without my permission." Tony began, but then he walked over to his bar, pulling out a few tumblers and a bottle of his cheapest scotch, which was still pretty fine. "Can I offer you a glass?"

"Mr. Stark, I have heard you are very amusing and I'm glad that you meet my expectation. I have to thank you and your father, you've provided many services to us over the years, the Super Soldier serum, the blueprints for the ARK reactor, you built missiles, bombs... weapons of Death and Destruction over the years..." Von Strucker chuckled, taking the tumbler that Tony had just been filling, smiling as he watched Tony's eyes widen, a haunted and self loathing look filling his eyes, rage and unbearable guilt filling his face. "Tell me, what is like to murder millions and never once pull the trigger yourself?"

Tony snapped, grabbing Strucker by the tie, he yanked him over the bar and smashed his head into the glass top twice before Vision pulled him off, whispering in his ears that Tony was not a murderer, he did not make weapons of Death, that the Stark Family has only ever tried to help people with their inventions. That it was people like Wolfgang Von Strucker and HYDRA who took his inventions and turned them into weapons, that they murdered millions, placing the blame onto him. As Tony came back from his rage, he snapped his eyes to Loki, who looked as angry as he felt. Suddenly Thor landed on the deck, dropping Mjolnir where he stood as he walked into the building, pulling off his cape, eyes nearly white with rage.

"Ah, who are you?" Schari asked, tugging on Loki's hair, making the man muffle a cry, hissing when the muzzle bit into the flesh of his lips.

"You will let him go." Thor stated, the rumble thunder filtering into his voice. "And maybe I will simply break your neck..."

Loki quivered, feeling himself become wet, a flush forming high upon his cheeks, dying them a rich purple. He recalled the conversation he had with Darcy about Mating, she had shown him pictures and even videos of such private acts. No two acts of Mating were the same and mortals indulged in as many forms as possible. He felt the Insectoid bring his face close to his, the hollow sounds of the Chitauri breathing in his scent was disgusting, but he also saw Thor's nose give the faintest twitch, catching the change in his scent as well and the way the last shred of blue faded away, Loki knew the Beast was awake and it was very displeased with what it saw.

"Hmm, I don't think I will... he smells like he wants me." Schari purred, letting out his long tube like tongue roll out and slither up the icy blue neck, yelping when the flesh turned blistering cold. "How!?"

"You know nothing of the Jotun, their flesh can instantly cause nercotizing frostbite." The Best grinned wide, head lolling to one side.

"His magic is stripped from him!" Schari hissed.

"Who said this was magic?" The Beast countered.

Loki looked at the Beast, the minute changes easy to spot, the slight reddening of the sclera, the slow lengthening of his teeth into razor sharp fangs. Thor's fists surely hid the growing talons, he was bigger bodied, holding back the transformation into the actual Beast. Tony was ignorant of the change, but Vision was not. He looked from Thor to Loki and the look of malicious glee in Loki's eyes was all the answer he needed.

"And you assume I asked... I didn't." the Beast growled lowly, smiling wider. "You will release him for you will be dead."

Schari snarled and threw Loki down to the floor the muffled cry enraging Thor as well as the act of violence. Schari ordered Strucker to open the portal as he lunged at Thor, the Beast catching him mid lunge, and throwing the both of them out of the window. Tony took that moment to raise his hand which was incased in a new suit blaster, firing at Strucker, who had gone to grab Loki, but ended up running when Tony kept firing at him, more pieces of the suit coming to attach to him. Vision quickly walked over to Loki, looking at the manacles and collar as well as the muzzle.

"I cannot see how to remove these..." Vision apologized without saying so.

Loki looked at him with calm eyes and then moved them to where Tony had chased Strucker. The message was clear, prevent Tony from murdering the man, no matter how much he deserved it. Vision was reluctant, but still he stood and left Loki to sit on the ground, the Jotun couldn't freeze the his bindings, his core temps did not drop that low and even then his people designed these, it was impossible to break them.

"You look like you need help." A woman spoke up suddenly and Loki jerked his head up to see a woman dressed in a sharp black military uniform with HYDRA's symbol emblazoned on the left breast.

Loki tried to hiss, the woman not paying him mind as she came to kneel down and grabbed the collar a moment later it, the muzzle and manacles clicking open and falling away. Loki was shocked, how did she know where to unlock them and by only touching the collar.

"Really now, Loki? I thought I raised you better..." She said, pulling her hat off and Loki's eyes filled with tears.

"M- mommy?" He whimpered.

"Shh, baby... come on, go cause hell." She pulled him to his feet as she winked at him then pulled up a radio and clicked the button, her tone going sharp. "Attention all HYDRA Units, fall back! Baron Von Strucker is dead. The Mission will fail!"

There was a series of replies and someone daring to question her and she snapped a sharp order in German before she got an affirmative before she crushed the radio and pulled up a cellphone.

"Hello? Am I talking with the SHIELD Board of Directors?" She chirped. "This is Ryilia Nubia, yes, the one and only, my people have informed that the last of the HYDRA cell is trying to escape the city... How do I know? Well let me see... oh yes, they kidnapped my son, Lucca. I want him back."

Loki watched in amazement as his mother played both sides of this little war and after a moment she got a confirmation that SHIELD Agents would capture the HYDRA units trying to escape. She hung up and smiled brightly.

"Mother-"

"Shh, my Air, you will know soon okay?" She pressed a finger to his lips and he nodded before she faded before him, breaking up into wisps of magic and he realized it wasn't his mother but mirage of her.

He wanted to cry, but then he looked down at his bracelet, the one his mother had given him and he smiled. He cried enough, she was live and she was trusting him to turn the tide of this war. Grinning brightly, he summoned up his spear, long weapon made of bone with crystals in places designed to amplify his magic.

"..." he looked around the city and began humming softly. "...and really bad eggs..." Before he ran and jumped from the landing deck, landing on a Chitauri Scooter, killing the gunner and the driver, but uing the driver's corpse to keep it flying. "Drink up me hardies, yo-ho.."


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Vision found Tony easily enough and quickly grabbed his former master and Von Strucker in opposite hands and held them apart. The human pinned to the wall of Stark Towers while Tony was held off the side of the building.

"Sir, forgive me, but I cannot allow you to kill him. You are not a murderer and killing him will make you into what you hate most."

"Damn it Jarvis!" Tony growled out, cursing both Vision and Friday who decided she was going to lock the suit so he could not use his other weapons to kill the man. He kicked his feet uselessly for another moment before he finally seemed to run out of curses and energy and hung limply.

"Feeling better, sir?" Vision asked.

"... yes..." He mumbled in a sulking tone.

Vision moved Tony up onto the balcony, Friday only onlining his thrusters and the view screen. She kept the weapons offline for now, just in case Tony went into another tizzy.

"Phhfft! The Great Iron Man is nothing more than a child!" Strucker laughed loudly, wheezing a bit when Vision put a bit more pressure on his chest. "Should I call you mother? Oh, wait... I can't seeing as she's dead. And do you know why?"

Tony went stiff. If knowing that his and his fathers inventions had been used to murder millions set him off like a firecracker in a fine china store, then mentioning either of his parents was like dropping a Nuke. Tony was vibrating with anger as his teeth ground tightly and rather painfully.

"You know the Captain's friend, 'Bucky'? He's the one who killed both your parents. Ooh yes, programmed to do anything we say if the correct commands are given. If I give them now... He will kill you all." Strucker purred.

"..." Tony for a moment felt a sudden hot rage take over him, almost taking off to find Bucky and kill him, but then he stopped. "Programmed? So you said some voodoo mumbo jumbo to him and then gave him the order to kill my parents? You brainwashed him..."

Strucker didn't look so smug as he realized that Tony was rationalizing his rage away or at least redirecting to the correct person. Loki had told them that the mind was truly amazing, but also delicate. Brainwashing wasn't all that different from using a spell on the mind, it can be just as damaging and cause irreparable damage. Bucky has told them that what little he remembers of all his training, they liked to use electric therapy on him to wipe his memories away and feed in commands and orders. He had described it as being stuck in a glass box watching a horror movie that no matter what he couldn't look away or stop it. Bucky wasn't in control of himself, if he had been Tony was sure that he would have never killed his parents or anyone else he was ordered to kill for that matter.

Taking a deep breath, he stood up and Vision looked at him.

"Vision... I think someone needs a spanking... I'm going to go blow something up..." With that, he took off, Friday onlining his weapons as he took out a squad of Chitauri goons hanging off the side of a building, smearing their blood all over the wall as he went.

"Mr. Stark will not kill you, but I did not say I would not..." Vision growl out, his hand suddenly around Strucker's neck, squeezing it slowly.

Suddenly Vision lost his grip and when he looked to see what had happened, he only saw Strucker pinned under a very angry Bucky, his metal arm raised above his head to drive his fist into his face. The angry soldier managed to land three punches before a Chitauri shot him in the chest and off the building. Vision dove to catch him before he hit the ground. Strucekr taking advantage to get away, but he didn't get far because with in seconds of him jumping onto the scooter with the Chitauri, a thunderbolt hit the scooter causing it to explode. Everyone gasped as Thor floated down onto the balcony, Mjolnir's head still crackling with the remnants of electricity.

"We heard everything you said... Your death was too quick, however I'm sure Hel will enjoy torturing you until Ragnarok." Thor promised.

"Thanks Thor..." Tony chirped over the comms. "You saved me from killing him myself..."

"I wanted him, Blondie!" Bucky grumped out, but there wasn't any real heat directed at Thor.

"Hey! Guys, who the heck is the blue guy hopping around taking out the roaches!?" Nat yelled at them.

"Blue guy?" Thor mumbled and walked to the edge and in that moment something blue flew up passed his face, catching hold of the balcony and pulling themself up and he smirked. "T'is Loki..."

"Thor..." Loki smiled at him, grabbing his hair and pulling him into a quick heated kiss. "I swear the next time I am kidnapped by mortals, I will turn their base into an ice berg... Really they are a truly arrogant race..."

Thor chuckled as Loki brought his lips to Thor's Ear.

"Can you all hear me?" Loki asked.

"Loki!" Everyone cried out.

Thor giving him an affirmative that they hear him well.

"I've located Dr. Selvig, however I destroyed the Scepter to bring Jarvis to life once more. But do not fear my friends. I think I know of a way to break the barrier around the Tesseract and to close the protal. However, I will need everyone to keep the Chitauri at bay!"

"Got it!"

"They agree. What are we doing?"

"Captain, ideas?" Loki asked.

Steve, who was on the ground finished smashing a Chitauri with shield, breaking its jaw. He looked around quickly and then nodded.

"Hawkeye, get up high and call out patterns and striations! Nat you and Loki get the Doc and take out the portal!"

"Got it, Captain. Boost?" Natasha asked, as she saw a couple of Chitauri scooters flying towards them.

Steve got into position and Natasha ran at him, using his knee and then the shield to launch herself into the air and grab onto a scooter as it fly passed.

"Tony! Anyone in the air, take them out!"

"Got it!"

"Thor, bring the rain!"

"Actual rain?" Thor asked.

Steve almost palmed himself until he heard Loki's giggles. It seemed Thor meant it as a joke or Loki was seriously cracked.

"Bucky, get back down here!" Steve barked at his lover.

"Ooh, talk dirty to me baby..." Bucky purred into his comm.

"Mr. Rogers, shall I drop him into a pool first?"

"No, Vision. I need him to help me. But after this is over, he can sleep on the sofa for the next month." Steve stated. "I need you, Vision, to help the Twins secure the buildings. Get the Civilians out and to safety!"

"Right away, sir."

"We can do that..." Pietro stated, zooming passed him.

"Got it..." Wanda stated.

"Sif, Frandral! Get to where Loki and Nat are going to take out the portal, cover them! If Loki needs to break out the big spells, he's gonna need a fairly quiet spot to work!"

"We are on our way." The pair chimed in, already jumping over the buildings and climbing up them as if they were part spider.

"Hogun, you and Sam got the airborne Chitauri! Ground them or kill them, just make sure the air is clear! Tony's only got a limit to his arsenal!"

"Understood." Hogun affirmed.

"Voltstagg, you are with me and Bucky!"

"By Vahalla!" Voltstagg cheered.

"Hulk?" Steve turned to the big green monster behind him.

Hulk looked down at him, curious.

"Smash." Steve grinned. And Hulk grinned wider and full of malicious intent for the Chitauri.

"Uhhh, Cap... you might want to see whats coming in now..." Tony called out.

Looking up everyone saw four large whale like creatures coming in from the portal and jettisoning from their backs were hundreds more Chitauri as about another 100 scooters came fly through as well.

"Oh fuck..." Steve groaned. "Take them out!"

Everyone roared and the chaos began anew.

Thor kissed Loki one last time before heading off to a nearby radio tower and summoned a thunderstorm, though nothing like what he did in Sokovia. Nat guided the scooter she commandeered to Stark Tower, picking up Sif and Frandral on her way and all three jumping off of it as soon as they got to the landing deck. Loki was knelt down by a dizzy Dr. Selvig, the man having a a small knot on his head from where Loki had smashed his skull off the railing.

"... me, good doctor, but it was the only way to break the spell's hold upon you. I can heal you if you wish." Loki was apologizing as they walked up.

"No.. no... Thank you for that..."

"You built this thing, can we get in there?" Natasha asked, pointing to the barrier surrounding the cube and the housing unit.

"Only the scepter can get passed it."

"But Loki destroyed it." Frandral pointed out.

"I did say I have an alternative way to get it open did I not?"

"How?" Sif asked.

"Like this..." Loki walked up to the barrier and placed his hands on it. He began to drone out a spell in the olden tongue of the Jotuns, his pale blue skin darkening as the marks on his flesh paled. Suddenly ice began to creep around the barrier, forming deadly spikes until it was completely covered. Loki then traced a circle wide enough to fit his hand in. shoving his left hand in, he felt the barrier bounce, breaking under the ice and keeping the backlash from throwing them off the balcony.

He will not tell them that the barrier broke before he could complete the spell, nor could he explain how it collapsed. It was almost as if he had shoved the scepter into it the barrier, but it was impossible seeing as it has been destroyed long before the barrier was erected. Shaking his head, he shattered the ice dome, the spikes flying off and hitting any Chitauri unfortunate enough to be flying near by. The wall of ice near them turning to snow.

"Wow..." Natasha stated impressed.

"You are truly powerful, my friend." Frandral smiled before he and Sif took position and shortly had a couple of Chitauri frighting them to get to the Unit.

"Doctor.?" Nat asked as he nodded. They walked to the unit and opened up the panels as Loki acted as a third guard, hurling spells and deadly magic at the insectoids. He didn't know nor did he care where Scharri had vanished too, but it would seem Thor had dealt with him well enough.

Erik was rambling to himself and Nat, as they looked for the central circuit, until they took out that, they couldn't pull the cube out of its housing and as soon as they pulled it out, the portal would close, at least that was the theory.

Thor had downed a leviathan when he was suddenly attacked from behind. He growled and turned to see the mostly broken form of Scharri, battered and bleeding, part of his jaw missing. He snarled low as he dropped his hammer, flexing his hands once to reveal the black talons as he bared inhuman teeth.

"We will enjoy this..." The Beast purred as its eyes turned the ethereal icy white on red before it charged Scharri with an equally inhuman roar.

Bucky and Steve had just finished taking out another battalion of Chitauri, slowly making their way up the streets. Clearing the area for now. That was when Steve noticed the Police baricade and the officers all standing around their cars.

"We need you to clear the area. As far back as 42st! We also need you to evacuate these buildings here of civilians, take them down to the service tunnels and keep them out of the line of fire!" Steve ordered.

"Like hell I'm listening to you, who do you think you are?"

Instead of answering the man, Steve turned, kicking the legs out from under a Chitauri who thought to sneak up on him. Both Steve and Bucky drove their elbows into the creatures ribs, before Bucky pulled out a pistol unloaded three shots in its head and Steve bashed its corpse away from him, both men turning their glare on the other three Chitauri who were ready to lunge at them. The officers stared in shock before the man who had talked to Steve got on his radio, relaying the orders Steve gave him, walking away from the two men who were now literally tearing the Chitauri apart.

"Fuck! I'm out of arrows!" Clint suddenly shouted out, breaking his steady stream of info relay. Hogun tossed him a few of his own arrows, they weren't special, other than that they were Godly, as he threw a few knives and killed five more Chitauri, pulling out his mace and diving at a group that was trying to get to the human.

Hulk could be heard roaring and seen flying from roof top to roof top as he took out anything that tried to hurt him. Downing another whale. Tony catching him at one point and using the momentum of both his thrusters and Hulk to send him barreling into the mouth of the third Leviathan. It took only minute for Hulk to tear his way out of the creature and down it before he made quick work of the Chitauri riding it.

"Got it!" everyone heard Dr. Selvig cheer only for the elation to die when Maria suddenly came onto the comms.

"The Board of Directors just ordered a Nuke!" She cried out.

"Shit... ETA?" Tony demanded.

"Five minutes or less!"

"Fuck... we can't clear the whole island in that time!" Bucky cursed.

Tony seemed to think of something and then got a brilliant idea.

"Loki! How soon will the portal close as soon as you take the cube?"

"Less than a minute, why?"

"That's plenty of time..." Tony murmured. Before he changed direction and flew to meet the nuke. Maria was off, it was much less than five minutes. Grabbing the white missile like bomb, he quickly flew up toward the portal and just before passing through it, he told Loki to take the Cube out. "Friday, call Pep..."

"Right away sir..."

He listened to it ring and ring and ring until her voice mail picked up. He cursed not only because she didn't pick up, but he could feel the suit freezing from the the fact they were in space and he was having difficulty breathing. As soon as he was on the other side of the portal he let go of the Nuke, the force of the thruster pushing him back and finally the suit locked and he began to fall back into the portal as it was closing up.

"Fuck!?" Everyone had cried out as they watched Tony vanish into the portal. Loki was letting out a wonderful stream of curses as he tried to think of away to keep the portal open long enough for Tony to make it back, but the whole housing Unit had been disabled and there was nothing he could do. They watched in horror as the portal got smaller and smaller at a fast rate.

But just as it closed, they saw something come through and as it got closer they saw the familiar red and gold paint job and sighed in relief, only to suck it back in when they realized Tony was completely limp.

"Dr. Banner! Catch him!" Loki bellowed, casting a bubble spell to slow the decent enough to allow the Hulk to catch him without accidentally killing him, assuming he was not dead already.

Hulk looked to Loki and then to Tony, catching the man and landing on the ground hard. He laid him down and ripped off the face piece to the suit. Steve and Bucky running up to him just as Maria told them the nuke went off and they watched what remained of the Chitauri drop dead around them. Within minutes everyone was coming to gather around Tony. Thor hanging back, covered in blood and holding Scharri's head in his hand.

"He's not breathing!" Steve yelled, trying to get the suit to open to begin CPR, but then Hulk slammed fist into the floor right by Tony's head and roared, literally scaring him back to life.

"Hah!?..." He gasped a bit before looking around at the others, who looked relieved that they hadn't lost him. "Did we win?"

"Yeah, you blew their mother ship to hell and they all just dropped dead." Natasha smirked.

"Oh... Good..." He smiled and then his stomach growled. "I'm hungry, how about we get some Shwarma? No idea what it is, but I want one."

Everyone laughed as they finally collapsed, exhausted and relieved...

It was late by the time they finally managed to clean up more than half of their mess, everyone was sitting in a lonely shawarma shop, half zombified as they ate. Loki was sleeping on Thor's shoulder, Scharri's head sitting in his lap as Thor had one arm around Loki and the other holding his pint of beer to his lips as he stared into space. Natasha was lazily eating her food as Tony was trying to stuff his down his throat. Clint looked like he was asleep with his eyes open. The Warriors and Sif were all munching away as Bruce poked his own food, sitting half naked next to Natasha. The twins were sleeping on either side of Sam as Bucky ans Steve mimicked Thor and Loki, minus the head. Overall, they were all in post battle mode.

Fury walked in then, offered them all a slightly pleased smile, before telling them what was going to he happening in the next few days. Loki only stated that he already broke the Cube and that he was not giving him Scharri's head either. Fury didn't bother to get mad or say anything, and the look that Thor was shooting at him kind of terrified him. Half the Avengers were going back to Sokovia to help Mrs. Nubia's people clean up and to try and smooth over relations as well as to issue formal apologies to the people. The other half would remain in New York and do the same thing. Nubia was sending more people to help them here in New York and Tony had his own people starting the clean up and rebuilding. He finally got a hold of Pepper too and he would be sure to call her later to talk and just reassure himself that he was still live and his fiance was safe and on her way home...

Now that the threats were over, the people of world were all rallying and rioting. Loki had always thought his mother was fibbing when she said that humans could be the most amazing creatures and yet the most ungrateful bastards in the universe. He was seeing it first hand now, people demanding that the Avengers be arrested and held accountable for all the deaths and destruction that befell the two cities. Angry families coming up to them and giving them photos of those they had lost in both cities, stating that the Avengers had killed them.

Thor growled at anyone who dared to come near Loki, the Warriors remained grim faced and guarded Loki from behind as Sif, stood before her brother and his lover, acting as a shield. It got so bad for all of them that the Government ordered the Avengers to be taken off duty while the UN met and decided their fate.

"Maybe we should have let the bugs take over." Frandral spat after shutting off the tv, a talk show having been dragging them through the mud, especially Loki, who had offered his services to heal the wounded.

"Are you serious!?" Tony gasped.

"Enough." Thor barked and Frandral had the decency to look sheepish. "They are mortal, Frandral, they cannot help themselves. They are short lived and often fear what is different from them."

"Besides, whatever they decide, it has no affect on us." Loki stated. "We are not from here, we can return home at any time. "

The Warriors nodded, but still they felt somewhat guilty.

"We are not going to abandon our friends, however in this hour of need. If the rulers wish to limit our activities, then let them. When another situation like this arises and the Avengers are not there to fight for them, they will realize their mistake. Sometimes you need to waste innocent lives to make a point." Loki stated, rather coldly.

"Harsh..." Darcy murmured.

"It's true though." a new voice spoke up as a woman in a sharp skirt suit walked off the elevator. Behind her was a tall broad man in an equally sharp suit. "Hello Avengers, I'm Ryilia Nubia."

They all gaped at the woman. They have all heard of her in one shape or form, but until this very moment have never seen her. She was a short woman, but of a slender build, an hour glass shape with a decent bust and rump. She had jet black hair that was cut short into a fluffy pixie cut only her fringe was long and got in her face. Her eyes were a brilliant jade green and her skin was a warm milky white. Over all she looked like she could be related to Loki, minus the obvious that she was human and he was a God. Loki kept his face carefully curious, even if he wanted to run up to the woman and hug her to death.

"This is my husband, Lau Nubia." She waved her hand in a casual but directive manner to the towering man behind her. Loki actually looked shocked. His father in Midgardian flesh was... well hot damn...

"Mrs. Nubia." Steve began standing to greet the woman, but she walked passed him and right up to Loki and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Uhh?" Tony wasn't sure how to speak, Pepper was next to him just as stunned and Vision was confused.

"Ok... I got that out of my system... ooh? Who is this handsome young man?" She demanded.

Loki chuckled as his mother's short attention span.

"This is Thor, ma'am." He spoke up as she circled the large Aesir, nodding and mumbling to herself.

"Great Grandma wasn't kidding when she said that none of the paintings or statues we made to represent the gods could do them justice... Ooh nice firm arse..." She grabbed Thor's butt and squeezed.

"Wife!" Lau cried, grabbing her and pulling her to him, scowling at Thor who was hiding behind Loki, who in turn was laughing with Ryilia because really, mother and son were too much alike.

"Mrs. Nubia..." Fury sighed.

"Oh, Nick! Sorry, but not sorry!" She grinned. "Now then if everyone is here, let's discuss the next course of action. As we know, the world at large is of mixed opinion right now. On one hand there are those who hail you as the proper heroes you are and voting against the bills and laws that will limit your activity in the world. On the other there are those who see you as a threat and a menace. Mind you you did nothing to provoke these incidents, at least not the Avengers themselves, but you, Nick, you and Shield have set them up to be a target and the scapegoat, not cool."

"I like her." Tony smiled.

"Glad you approve." She smiled. "My people tell me that they are looking into everyone's history, they will be pulling out all the dirty laundry and skeletons from your closets. You will all be in the hot seat and I am doing my best to keep you out of it. And finally there are those who are sitting on the fence because they are neither for the Bill or against it." She sighed, rubbing her brow. "I for one do not want to see my ancestor behind bars..." She waved her hand at Loki, who blinked, but the look she gave him told him to not argue.

"Wait... you're a relative of Loki's!?" Darcy gasped, looking like she just hit the jackpot.

"Yep! I'll have my assistant show you my family tree sometime. It's pretty extensive and very impressive. Now back to the topic: The death tolls while pretty high, was thankfully not as bad as they could have been. Many families are sitting on either side of the fence, and sadly grief is a powerful motivator. I can see that a few of them have gotten to you..." Ryilia had walked over to the coffee table where piles of pictures and letters sat. She looked through many of them and sighed, long and tired, but then she smirked darkly. "You want to make someone hurt as bad as you do? Then why not make them think they were the ones to walk up to your loved one and kill them in cold blood... Best psychological warfare. Makes you think you did something when you did nothing."

"That's not making us feel any better." Clint grunted.

"I'm sorry, should I rub salt and lemon in those wounds? I'm sure that will feel much better then. It's the truth and I'm not gonna sugarcoat or shy away. The world is pissed at you and at each other. It's human nature to put the blame on someone else and if we are miserable and suffering we want company! Misery loves Company, you know!" She snarled out, the bite in her voice stinging like whips of nylon.

"Ms. Nubia..." Loki placed a hand on her shoulder and she instantly calmed down.

"Right... Now then. Let me see who sent these and figure out how to at the very least appease them if not silence them. No I will not kill them, though the temptation might be there in some cases. For now I think it is best if I relocate everyone to my Chateau, it's isolated in the country side, plenty of open space and fresh air. I have a ranch up there as well as one of my best laboratories and a planetarium. You are more than free to decline to come and once there you are free to come and go as you please, just be sure to inform my staff of your departures and arrivals so we can keep tabs. I know the media and all those big wigs will be looking for discrepancies to throw you under the bus. Let's not give it to them, hmm?"

"I don't think-"

"Nick... Shut the fuck up or I'll gouge out the other eye." She snarled low. "Don't think I didn't notice a few of my people missing and working with you nor that you took liberty of 'borrowing' one of my top secret labs for your experiments. And I thought I made it clear that any and all relics were to be shown to me before they are placed in the vaults because of what my family does! And by the way, you are welcome for me being your mole with Hydra. Loved the uniform, hated the company..." She scoffed out. "Now then, shall we?"

"Actually, we need to report to Lady Frigga." Frandral stated.

"Ah, right, go! I'm sure you will return shortly!"

"Thor?" Loki asked.

"You may stay if you wish, Loki."

"Hmm... Alright. But please bring with you my books and that satchel?" Loki asked.

"Of course..." Thor kissed Loki's temple and he and his friends turned to leave, not before Sif and the others gave Loki hugs and kisses as well. They stepped out onto the balcony and with a shout of Heimdall's name, they were gone in moments, the rest of the world none the wiser of the BiFrost opening and closing within the same heartbeat.

"You sure you want to stay behind?" Natasha asked.

"I can help out with whatever I can. Your rulers can try and limit me, but seeing as I am not someone who exists here other than in myths and stories, they will not be able to do so." Loki stated.

"And I'd love to see the dumbass who thinks they can control a God." Ryilia snorted out, the bitter amusement spoke of a much deeper meaning, but no one could pin it down nor did they want to point it out. "If we are all in agreement, then please follow me to my cars. We have a bit of a drive." She told them.

Tony looked to Pepper, the two have quick, quiet but heated talk before she sighed and kissed him soundly on the lips, whispering something to him as she grabbed her coffee and left the room.

"I'll go, it'll take a lot of the heat off of Pep." Tony agreed with Ryilia's offer.

"Is it possible for me to go handle something and come later?" Clint asked, not telling anyone that he was really going to see his pregnant wife and his kids.

"I'm going with him as backup." Natasha stated, wanting to see her niece and nephews.

"We're off duty." Steve pointed out

"Assassins." The pair stated.

Ryilia smiled brightly, showing off a set of teeth that didn't look entirely human, "Ooh, what's your favorite form of killing a target?"

"Wife!" Lau groaned loudly, rubbing his brow.

"Oh hush, Lau, it is a perfectly legit question. I personally love watching them eat or drink poison and slowly suffocate to death." She purred. "Or bleed out, depending on which one I use."

"You have what!?" Fury cried.

"What, they tried to kill me first... I only succeeded where they had failed." She shrugged carelessly. "Besides, I come from a long line of nobles, we've dealt with our fair share of assassins and have assassinated an equal amount of would be murderers and enemies. I just know how to keep my skeletons buried where they belong. My closet is nice and clean thank you!"

Loki giggled as Darcy chuckled, the pair loving the sassy snark and the rather blatant display of 'No fucks given' Ryilia was sporting.

"As for your request Mr. Barton. I see no reason as to why not, however since I like my privacy and do not want anyone following you back to my Chateau, I will be sending one o my men with you. Mr. Gouro will take you to where you wish to go an bring you straight back to me. He is one of my best bodyguards and a very capable spy, he knows when to keep secrets and when to spill them. He will not tell anyone of where you are going or endanger whatever mission you are on." She assured him.

"Thank you... Uh..." Clint blinked seeing that only her husband had come with her.

She pulled out a cell and pressed a button, it speed dialed the number she wanted and in a moment she was talking in French with her man, the Frenchman agreeing to her request and soon enough he was up in the penthouse meeting the two Assassins, the three having a stare down before Clint nodded and went to go pack his things. Nat simply pulled a duffle bag out of the sofa, ignoring Steve's reprimand about her stashing things all over the place.

"I will join you as well." Steve told Ryilia.

"I'm sticking with him." Bucky stated, grabbing his lover by the hips and pulling him into his lap.

"Oh honey, please, if I wanted the Captain, I 'd get him." Ryilia rolled her eyes at Bucky's possessiveness. "Sadly I don't like my men juiced. I like them like my hubby. Au Natural!" She purred, leaning back into her husband, who chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "Mmm, not in front of company, love..."

"Please we have done worse at formal gatherings, or do you not recall a certain ball that resulted in our youngest child?" He teased her.

Loki turned bright red, hands slammed over his ears as he began singing loudly. Darcy was dying of laughter as Steve covered his face, mortified while Bucky seemed to looking the couple up and down with an appraising eye.

"What the hell?" Tony wondered as he came into the room with a suitcase with his close, another being his Iron Man suit.

"I believe they are discussing their liaisons..." Vision chimed. "The sensual kind."

"Glad to know that Americans live up to their stereotype." Pietro murmured.

"I'm not American. I'm actually Irish." Ryilia chirped happily. "The Hubby Unit is Scandinavian. And people are kinky, doesn't matter what their race or ethnic background is, though I have seen disturbing things in the very dark corners of the internet and lets say I will never go to sleep in any beds in Germany and while I will visit Japan, I will never sleep in anywhere but my damn limo."

"Oh my god!" Everyone gasped as the mental images that statement conjured were horrifying.

She only cackled at their discomfort before she turned to see her PA walk off the elevator.

"The limos are waiting, madam." He stated.

"Thank you, Glade. Now then, are we ready?" She asked.

Steve and Bucky quickly went to get their things while Bruce shuffled nervously in the corner. Loki noted this and smiled softly as he went to assure the man that they will be fine, no one will try anything to hurt him. Once he was calm, he went to get a small bag of clothes and came back still nervous and shuffling uneasily. Sam opted to stay in the city but Ryilia gave him a special cell to call her place should he change his mind. The twins had no real choice but to go with them, Vision tagged along as well.

"Tony, stop fretting. I'm fine and I've got Rhody. He's going to be stay with me here and so is Sam. No one will brother me and I also have Happy. If anything changes, I'll call you." She sighed, shoving him to the elevator when he tried to find another reason to stall. She kissed him hard and he sighed as she stepped back and the doors shut on him.

"It's right, Mr. Stark." Ryilia promised him as they rode down. "Your fiance is correct. She's fine and so are you."

"Last time I left her alone, she was kidnapped by some loon who tried to turn her into a walking nuke." Tony growled out.

"Yes, I remember that. He came to office in Italy and when I refused his offer, one of his men went nuclear." She smiled darkly as told him that. "He killed 15 people, 10 of which worked for me, 5 innocent people who happened to be in the wrong place a the wrong time. The joke was on him though. I'm from a long line of Keepers, we are not like average mortals. I almost froze him solid, but then the Fire Department finally showed up and he got away from me. But I'm glad you got him."

"You're weird." he stated.

"When you're family works to keep the balance of the world, you will be weird too, especially when you are related to a certain God of Mischief." She grinned impishly.

"That's why you hugged him!"

"Not everyone gets to meet their Great x16 Grandpa!" She giggled.

They stepped off the elevator and when Tony saw Loki talking with Glade, he burst into laughter while Ryilia grinned. Loki didn't ask, but he was scowling at Tony.

"What?"

"Nothing... Grandpa!" Tony nearly choked as he laughed.

Loki looked to his mother who held a finger to her lips, telling him to keep quiet. Soon after everyone was divided up into the limos, all of them Rolls Royce models from the early 1900s, and they were on the road. In the very front car was Glade driving his Lady and her family, behind them was Mrs. Loupe with Capt. Rogers and Sgt. Barnes, with Dr. Banner. Behind them was the Twins, Mr. Vision and Mr. Stark riding with Ms. Long. Mr. Gouro was taking the Assassins to wherever they needed to be while the others either remained or had left earlier.

"Mother, why was Lord Stark calling me Grandpa?"

"Well our family tree is a bit complex. By the time I finish explaining it, three Ice Ages would have passed." she sighed. "The short of it is that I am your Mother and your descendant. Or at least that's what I tell people though I do have family and others who are born from your loins." She smiled. "I told you the Universes lay on top of each other and at times intersect."

He gave a slow nod, lost in thought for a moment.

"You are my mother here, but in another plain, you are one of my descendants."

"Right! And seeing as we hold very powerful magic, we can dimension hop. The Natural Paths do more than connect the Realms, they connect When and Where." Ryilia smiled.

"You are both insane, simple as that." Laufey sighed, but his indulgent smile softened his insult.

"You love us!" Mother and Son chirped, hugging him as he sighed again, but pulled them even closer.

"So... the Thunderer?" Laufey asked.

"Yes father..." Loki leveled him with a look that dared him to deny him. "He rescued me from capture and has enslaved himself to me without my request or desire. He had no reason to do anything for me, but he took me in and has kept me safe. He treats me very well, like you treat mother and had treated Lord Fárbauti."

"What would I be if I denied you, my Gem?" Laufey sighed, giving him a soft smile, kissing his temple. "I have never been able to deny anyone of you your hearts deepest desires. If the Thunderer truly makes you happy then you have my blessing."

"Thank you father. Mother?" Loki looked at her, she seemed to be staring right through him.

"I do not care as long as he treats you well and cherishes you." She stated, coming out of her thoughts, cupping his cheek. "As long as you are safe and happy, loved as you deserve to be, I do not see faults with this mating. Besides you will make me lovely grandchildren!"

Loki chuckled as she began to ramble about adorable part Jotuns running about the palace, blonde and black hair with blue and green eyes, some tanned, others pale, their Jotun flesh a beautiful array of ice blues. Laufey laughed as she pulled out a tablet and began researching baby things, already planning a nursery for the future generation of the Nubia line...

Pulling up to the Chateau, everyone stared in awe of the building, thinking that Ryilia needed to rename it 'Mini Palace' before they were ushered inside the foyer. The whole of the staff stood at attention on either side of the large room.

"Welcome home, Lady Nubia and honored guests!" they all greeted, bowing low or curtsying.

"Thank you everyone. Please take my guests belongings to their rooms. Is Cookie done with dinner?" Ryilia asked, already stripping off her suit jacket while surrounded by five servants, she actually stripped and changed into house clothes right there, the Servants moving and blocking her from view before suddenly she was in a set of loose flannel pajama bottoms a thick strapped tank top with the picture of a peanut holding a brief case. Her hair was hidden under a pale blue bandana. "Also has the grapes been collected?"

"Yes ma'am. They are at their peak and will make very fine wine."

"Good. Take them down to sub level 10 to age. I think two years down their will get the wine bottles perfectly aged. The horses that are to be sent to the races?"

"Mr. Lloyd has completed a short list and is awaiting your review and permission, my lady."

"Alright, bring those files to my office upstairs. What about Mr. Hammer?"

"He made it back to his office without incident and has already begun working on the project you gave him."

"Very good. Keep in contact with him. If there is any issues at all, tell me. Yanis, Janis and Bella! Take my guests to their rooms so they may change and get comfortable. Dinner?"

"Cookie needs another 15 minutes." Glade stated, walking up to her with a leather dossier, she looked it over before signing and he walked away.

"Alright, see you all in 15 then!" She smiled before walking into her tea room to flop onto her lounge, a moment later she stomped back out to grab Laufey and yank him into the room. "Hubby cuddles!"

Loki chuckled at the silent plea for assistance his father sent them, but they wisely did not offer it.

"This way please!" The three women stated, moving in perfect sync.

"She sure runs a tight ship..." Tony murmured.

"The Lady is very organized, though most see it as chaos." Bella stated.

"We have never met another who works as hard as her Ladyship!" Yanis chirped.

"Nor have we ever seen anyone as terrifying as she when something goes wrong." Janis murmured.

"She seems pretty nice..." Darcy stated.

"As long as you remain on her good side." The three chimed together.

"I- I …. is it... unstable here?" Bruce stuttered out, blushing when the three women looked at him.

"Awww, he's so shy!" Yanis cooed. "Don't worry sir, we have all worked or lived here since her Ladyship was a small babe! We know what to do to keep the Manor running smoothly. It is perfectly stable here and hardly a hiccup ever happens."

"Unless the Lady has been drinking and then there are plenty of hiccups." snickered Bella.

"Bella!" Yanis and Janis yelled at her.

"Ah, here we are... Mr. Rogers and Mr. Barnes you have the Blue room!" Bella giggled, ignoring her co-workers as she directed the two men to the double blue doors. Opening them, they saw that other than the door, only the bed covers was blue everything else was in soft tans and dark browns.

"Mr. Stark you have the Classical room." Janis guided him to his room, the doors were carved with what looked like sheet music and when the door opened, he saw a pretty cool room dressed in deep reds, black and white, a piano sat near a sofa both of which were by the wall of windows a sae distance from the bed.

"Nice..." He mused as he walked in.

"You two are in here, the Libra room!" Yanis pulled the Maximoff twins to the double doors that opened into a room that seemed to be built from various puzzles and mind twisters, but somehow it all fit together and the gentle grey and maroon was a nice, if mind boggling combination. Their beds were set on dias that looked elevated but at the same time sunken into the ground.

"Dr. Banner, you have the Zen Garden room." Bella cooed softly to him, guiding him to a set of rice paper doors that opened into a Zen Garden, complete with a tranquil waterfall and a small pond full of gold fish, a futon was set in the dead center on a tatami floor while the rest of the ground was sand or covered in plants.

Bruce was shocked and amazed, he could head the Other Guy grumble in pleasure at the room as he stepped into it.

"Mr. Barton's room is here and Ms. Romanov is right here in the Lair, as her Ladyship loves to call this room." Yanis stated to the two rooms that remained closed until the two occupants arrived. Natasha's room was right next to Banner's while Clint's was across from hers. "Mr. Vision, seeing as you do not require sleep nor food, the Lady has granted you permission to reside within her Library, however she does ask that you take great care of the books. They are family heirlooms and she is very peculiar about the order she put them in. The ones in the glass case are off limits. She will know if you attempt to read them."

Janis opened the doors to the massive room that seemed to spiral up into the sole tower of the Chateau. The walls were lined and their were walkways and ladders leading all the way to the top.

"All of these... are family heirlooms?" Tony gaped.

"Yes." Ryilia suddenly spoke up behind them "Thank you ladies, please finish whatever chores you were working on before our arrival and then head off to supper as well."

"Right away, my lady! But we didn't show-" They began.

"I can show the last of my guests their rooms. Lau's getting changed for dinner as well so I'm not allowed to cuddle him to death." She sighed, pouting softly. The girls giggled and left as Ryilia smiled at Loki, "This way."

The group followed to see his room which she called the White Room. The doors were large, double white pine wood that was carved to show fantastical creatures. Opening the doors a sudden burst of ice cold air hit them all and Loki moaned happily as he walked into the room and was awed to see it looked exactly like his bed chambers back in Mimir's Keep. He had a frost wolf pelt laying before a low fire, the bed was bowl shaped and full of furs, blankets and pillows with a canopy hanging around it.

"Whoa..." Tony breathed.

"It's cold..." Wanda chattered out, rubbing her arms to try and get some warmth back into them.

"Loki is a Frost Giant and while he can handle extended periods in warm climates, it could seriously cause harm if he does not take his natural form every now and again." Ryilia stated clearly, no longer joking or acting like she were insane. "He would not tell you because it is not humanly possible to creat something like this without freezing to death yourselves. He'd rather suffer in silence than cause undue harm to his friends."

Bucky and Steve frowned as Loki's flesh turned icy blue, the young god blending nearly perfectly into the blue walls.

"You seem to know a lot about him and his physiology." Bruce murmured.

"I ought to." She stated, walking into the room unbothered by the beyond freezing temperatures as she opened a side door that led to an en suite bathroom that seemed to be made of all ice if the happy squeal from Loki was any indication. She came back out as Loki shoved her out of the bathroom, the door slamming behind her as she giggled. "Now then, I believe you all should be getting ready for dinner."

"How can you not be cold?" Pietro asked. "I'm moving myself-"

"At an incredible speed to keep yourself warm, I know. However, I am not affected because I have a high level of magic which allows me to keep myself warm or cool when my surroundings are less than favorable." She stated. "Now come before you all freeze in place."

She guided them out of the room once more and closed the door, the instant temperature change shocking a few of them.

"Wife..." Laufey called and she smiled at him.

"He's in the bathroom getting cleaned up."

"Good... I brought a few things he might like to wear." Laufey held the bundle of tan fabric in his hands before quickly slipping into the room and a moment later stepping back out unaffected by the coldness of the room. "He's out of the shower now."

"He never did like lingering unless it was after supper or a particularly hard training session." She smiled.

"Ok, you sound like you know way more than you should." Tony pointed out.

"I repeat. I ought to, seeing as I'm his mother." She grinned brightly. "And look, it only took you less than 2 minutes! Very good!"

"Mother please, stop messing with my friends." Loki sighed, walking out of the room in his full Jotun form, his horns gleaming where they curled out of the base of his skull, over the tips of his ears and at his temple they twisted back to deadly points.

"Whoa..." The others gasped. They could now see his skin was glacial blue, the indigo heritage lines lining his body looking nearly black in comparison. His hair now not longer magicked to a shorter length fell to below his ass. His eyes ruby on crimson and his nails were pitch black.

"I cannot help myself, love. I like to mess with everyone it's what I do and how I keep order!" She huffed. "Laufey you may change as well, seeing as they know now."

They watched her husband change skin tone and fill out more, bone like plating growing from his flesh, his hair vanishing, but he remained at his smaller height.

"I will not take my full height to make it easier on all of us." He stated when she looked at him questioningly.

"Alright, love." She smiled and grabbed both his and Loki's hands and pulled them alone behind her. "Let's eat and I shall tell you a very old, but very true story... I hope you are all smart enough to figure out the hidden truth..."


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Dinner was a quiet affair, Loki and his mother chattering quietly to themselves in the Jotun's tongue, Laufey occasionally adding in his own comments. There was mild tension. Some of the Avengers wanted to know what kind of mother let's their kid think their dead, others were questioning if they should seriously be trusting anyone at this point. At one point Ryilia turned to them all, her face set in a void mask as her eyes began to glow and eerie toxic green color as she told them that their thoughts were very loud and were quite rude. That made them all jerk and duck their heads and finish eating in silence.

When dessert was served, they watched Ryilia get up to help the Cook, or Cookie as the woman called her. They wondered why until Laufey literally grabbed his son by his long hair and held him in place while sipping at his cup of tea, not at all bothered or concerned that Loki had jerked to a sudden stop that would have surely killed a lesser man.

"Sit down, Loki!" Ryilia sighed exasperated already with her son, though the twinkle and poorly hidden smile said otherwise.

"But... precious, it calls us!" Loki hissed out. "It calls to us! Must have precious!"

"Lucca!" Ryilia growled out and he went still, eyes wide as Laufey looked just as shocked. "Sit down, young man! I taught you better than that!"

"Sorry mother..." He whimpered and sat on his chair, looking like he was placed on timeout. And in all honesty, he probably was.

Ryilia sighed, rolling her eyes as she kept herself between her son and the dessert cart. Her husband sitting, ready to catch their son again if he tried to get to his precious again. Cookie, who had been serving the desserts had jumped back and looked frightened of the young man before her employer put her foot down. Once the guests had their plates of various dessert items, Ryilia shooed Cookie away from the cart and pulled out a locked mini fridge a box that was been pressurized and had even a retinal scanner lock on it. They were paranoid as they waited to see what had caused Loki's rather uncharacteristic behavior.

Opening the box, with a hiss of frosty air, she pulled the top off and sitting in the center of the box was a bowl of...

"Pudding?" Tony asked.

"Not just any pudding!" Loki snapped at him, angry. "It's mother's secret recipe! No one knows how she makes it or with what, only that it is the ambrosia of the Gods!"

"I may have spoiled Loki a bit with puddings when he was only a child. He was always a sickly thing, puddings were easy on his little tummy and when we needed him to behave or do something he normally wouldn't do or would put a fight about, we would reward him with pudding." Ryilia admitted, not at all ashamed.

Taking the bowl and setting it before her son, she handed him a very tiny spoon, one used for a tea set, and he said a quick thank you and scooped out a tiny bit and popped the morsel into his mouth and moaned rather obscenely.

"Do not tell anyone that the only way to get Loki to do anything at all is to use Pudding, especially my special Sicilian watermelon and rosewater pudding-"

"Precious, mother!" Loki corrected, taking another bite and blissing out again.

"Many have tried to recreate this, while good in their own rights, Loki can tell from a glance if I made it or it's a cheap imitation." She smiled as Loki grumbled darkly at yucky false puddings and worshiping the bowl of holiness before him.

"Well... I'd have to say I would have never thought I'd see Loki act anything but..."

"Regal? He's still a child, you know. Only the human equivalent of a 17 year old with the mentality of a 6 year old when it comes to certain things." Ryilia chuckled. "I won't tell you my age, but know I act like a 2 year old all the time."

"You are never boring, love." Laufey assured her as she smiled and placed a bowl of custard before her mate and he quickly snatched the bowl away when Loki tried to sneak a taste of it. "Loki... I will spank you if you even think of touching my dessert. Your mother worked very hard to make this perfectly for me."

"Mine is better." Loki sniffed and Laufey growled the two quickly being reduced to petty sniping and nitpicking as Ryilia rolled her eyes.

"See?" She asked.

Everyone nodded and ate their dessert, watching the two males growl and hiss at one another while Ryilia calmly ate a whole tray of lemon squares, giggling at her mate and son. As soon as everyone was finished, minus Loki who was taking his time to savor every single last bite, Ryilia had Glade bring one of the ancient Tomes from her library and he stood between the Prince and King, the only being fast enough to catch both males as soon as his mistress opened the book and an inhuman shriek escaped it. Laufey looked like he was about shit a brick or ten while Loki had blinked curiously, holding his bowl of pudding against his chest, wary of the possible threat.

"Sorry... I forget this book does that... and you, shut the hell up!" She smacked the book and it yelped before flipping itself to a page and she held it up so all could the hand drawn painting of two figures. "We all know that the people this world and the worlds beyond this one all have various beliefs and creation myths, however the Universal constant is Death and Chaos. My family and my people have long since worshiped the God of Death and the God of Chaos. We believe they created the universe and once they finished, slipped into the background. Forever shadowing over their creature, but never directly interfering. my ancestor, the first of my line, was said to have met the Lord Chaos and he granted her the title of Keeper. Another from another clan met the Lord Death and was granted the same Title. The two Keepers eventually crossed paths and realized that while on their own they are capable of much, but together they are capable of greater feats."

The book flipped to several pictures as she spoke. From the two figures to that looked like the Big Bangs Theory happening, to the hooded Gods speaking to two different ancient human women, dressed in different tribal clothing. One meant for the harsh winters, another dressed for the blazing heat of the desert.

"This book is old and imbued with magic almost as old as the human race. Most of the knowledge in this book is lost to time because these languages are long since dead, translations scattered or burned. Translators branded and killed." She sighed, tired and with of mourning in her tone. "Fear is a powerful thing especially the fear of the unknown and queer. No I do not mean gay, I mean strange!"

"We didn't say anything." Bucky mumbled.

"I can hear your thoughts... Seriously, rude!" She huffed. "My family has long faced the blade other others, burned at the stakes and were stoned because we believed in Chaos as our primary God, worshiped him and offered our fealty to him."

The book turned its pages again showing people being killed in hellish ways, tortured or left in agony.

"Those who followed Death suffered the same. Eventually we were seen as devil worshipers, the human race as a hole fearing Death and Chaos. All other Gods had been born and had faded with time. Even your One True God is split and divided amongst the people today, but eventually he will fade with time, but still Death and Chaos will forever remain. Because they do not need worship, the do not need sacrifices or offerings. We give them power just by living our lives."

The next picture showed humans doing various things, all the while two shadow figures always linger in the background, unseen and unnoticed, but always present.

"Death gave the living the gift of death because if we all lived forever, can you imagine being so old and weak, but having you 190x great grandchild taking care of you?" She asked. "Death is a gift because when we die, we make space for another soul to be born. Many believe we go to Heaven or Hell when we die, others believe in reincarnation. Some say death is final, or it is only the beginning. Death is honored by everyone who passes away and everyone life brought into the world."

The next pictures were of the life cycle ranging from plants to animals to humans to even the stars in the heavens. All of them forming a massive picture of Death's cloak and those who were being born and given new life made the scythe. A foreboding and yet benevolent picture.

"Chaos brings disruption to the monotony of life. Imagine waking up every single day, eating the same three meals every day, preforming the same tasks, never once doing anything out of your set routine. You'd never find a partner, never love or have fun, never have a family! Hell the majority of us would never have been born!" She scoffed but calmed down. "Chaos likes to cause little ripples in our lives. Whether they are good things or bad things, it is how we view it. Death and Chaos are not Evil or malevolent.."

Chaos's portrait was made up of seemingly normal pictures, but as they looked closer they could see those who Chaos had disrupted. A soldier dropping his spear while the others did not even notice. A flock of birds flying south while the others remained nesting with the approach of winter. A girl crying while other children laughed and played. An elderly woman tending a grave stone while others walked away from a fresh grave not even bothering to fill it with dirt.

"So you're the newest Keeper of Chaos?" Steve ventured.

"Yes. I'm actually a lot older than I look. The Keepers have a blessing and a curse of extended life. Not immortality, but let's say I was still 15 when all your great grandparents were just born." She smiled. "the reason for this is because we need the long lifetimes to balance out the world, fall in love and have families of our own, eventually training our replacement, assuming we aren't killed early on."

"Okay... you're old, like really old? So how are you Loki's descendant?" Tony asked.

"I'm not." She stated. "I only told you that to mess with you. However in another life in another time, that is very much true. We Keepers when we die, our memories are passed onto our successor. We remember everything, every deed, every life saved, everyone one taken. Saving all of Humanity from themselves or damning them. In fact, I work for both SHIELD and HYDRA. Some times to keep the balance you have to play the Devil's Advocate."

"It explains why when you set me free you were dressed in the Hydra uniform." Loki stated.

"Correct, though that was a copy of me because the real me was busy dismantling Hydra's main bases from the inside out. Seriously, you should never trust anything that sounds too good to be true. Those it killed me to supply them with everything needed." She grumbled discontentedly, sighing as she sat back, the book flipping to a journal entry and moving itself to rest before Wanda.

She began reading it and gasped as her brother leaned on her shoulder and looked it over as well.

"What is... Ragnarok?" He asked.

"The End of all... Tell me what do you know of Norse Mythology?" She asked.

"Other than that Loki's the God of Mischief and Thor's the God of Thunder? Not much since Loki debunked a good portion of all the myths and stories." Tony shrugged.

"Alright, who can tell me what Loki's name means and where it came from?" She smiled. "I gave you a major hint already."

The Avengers moved to one side of the room to talk. Loki still munched on his pudding as Laufey eyed the Tome like it was going to eat his soul. Ryilia was petting the book, that had moved back into her hands, like she would a cat. After a few minutes. They sat down again and Bruce spoke up.

"Umm... depending on the translation and the runes, Loki's name can mean Air or End."

"Very good. Loki's name is derived from the word Lucca, which means The End. As in the end of all life and the end of the universe. I'm often told it's a cruel name, but hey, my name when written in the olden tongues means 'Harbinger of Destruction.' I kept the family tradition." She shrugged. "And yes Ragnarok is always the end of all, however, depending on how it brought about, is what ends all Universes or creates a new one. Which leads us back to Death and Chaos creating the Universe from Nothing. Ragnarok is the Death of the old and the Beginning of the new while Chaos causes the ripples necessary to ensure that the previous routine is disrupted, preventing the same events from happening again."

"In other words, your family controls the fate of the world." Steve stated.

"Nope!" She grinned. "We don't control anything. However we like to throw a wrench or two into your best laid planes, because if we left them alone, in the long run they would cause more harm than good." She stood up, waving her hands and they watched in amazement as the room around them vanished and was replaced with what looked like ancient ruins. Said ruins turned out to be ancient memories.

"This is the Grand Palace of Svartalfheim. The Dark Elves use to rule all of the universe, having grown and matured much faster than the majority of the races, even now humans are still considered infantile,. They kept the universe plunged in darkness, taking advantage that Death and Chaos could not directly interfere with their plans to enslave the realms and beyond. Their king having taken advantage of Death and Chaos' kindness to steal from them the Infinity stones. However Chaos, enraged that one of their children would betray them so terrible, struck him."

They watched these events unfold before them all, Death's cloaked figure was truly frightening, but at the same time, it was a comfort. Whereas Chaos' form was shapeless, a mass of shadows minus two luminous eyes, it was terrifying and yet it was a curiosity. The figures seemed to play and dance, in the nothingness that was soon to be their universe as the pair each made three colorful objects that when brought close together exploded and from explosion, the universe was born, worlds and various forms of life began appearing, and like Ryilia stated, they were all young and rather infantile.

They saw the Dark Elves form and grow, quickly maturing, from basic barbarism to a civilized society. Watched as a sing Elf, the King, rose above the others, beseeching the Creators of the universe and the pair inviting him into their secret Realm only to be attacked, the six objects stolen by the King who then fled, but before he could step through the portal completely, Chaos shot out at him and struck him, causing him to lose five of the objects into the vastness of the universe.

"All but one was lost. With this object of power, the Infinity Stone, the Dark Elves ruled over all. Death and Chaos had no choice but to find advocates, agents who would do their biding and will to reset the balance they had unfortunately tipped by inviting the greedy and ungrateful child to their home." She stated, sounding very upset. "They choose two mortals. Creatures short lived and quite adaptable, but also back in those times, deeply spiritual. The two Advocates, women, who upon seeing the hooded figures knew they were Gods and were humbled to be chosen. When Death touched them, he extended their life to twice that of their life spans back then. Meaning they lived to see at the very least 30 or so."

They watched Death appear before His Advocate, the woman lost in a winter blizzard, nearly frozen to Death. She offered him what little she had, a bite of bread, frozen solid and a strong bear made from roots that was perfectly chilled, but not frozen. Death pulled the woman close, warming her as Chaos appeared before a woman left out in the middle of harsh desert, a terrible sand storm raging, cut and bleeding, almost buried alive. This woman looked up at him and pointed him to a cave that was near to save himself. The selflessness of the women had won over the gods, women who accepted their fates and showed no fear of what lay on the other side of the veil of death. They saved the women and nursed them back to health. When the women were well enough, they humbled themselves before the gods, offering their lives and all they owned in offering to them.

The Creators accepted their offers and named them Keepers. Death touching each woman with his scythe, extending their lives, and knowledge. Chaos bestowed a kiss each, giving them power and control over what is now called Magic. The women were awed and once more humbled, the Gods blessing them and all children of their blood to receive these gifts.

"After Chaos's Kiss, they were given blessings to pass on the gifts to their children and their successors. When it was done, Chaos and Death sent the women back to their peoples. They lived in peace for a few more years, living their day to day lives, but now they had a new good to offer thanks and favor to among the ancient ones of their time. They married, had children and eventually grew old and died, their Successors taking the mantles and so. It wasn't until Humans had reached the first Golden age, Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians the major influences in Religious believes at that time. The Descendants first Advocates were called by Death and Chaos to appear before a council of Gods."

They watched the women grow old, have children and die, those children grow and have their own. They watched the transition of man, they watched races be born and wiped away, shape the world to what they know from books of the past and what remains from those olden times. They watched the two Keepers, women like the originals, be approached by the Gods dressed as mortals, but the women knew them at a glance, humbling themselves before them and offering them what they could no matter how little it was and if they were left with nothing.

The Gods whisking the women away to a golden chamber of some kind where gods of the Ancient times stood or sat around them and they seemed to argue and speak. Loki sat up straighter at this, having seen this very memory when Wanda had invaded his mind. He would see the one called Zeus point and shout at the woman called R, her name having been blocked from him. She was calm and snapped back with just as much bite as a viper. She and her partner, vanishing to only appear on a devastated Svartalfheim, the last traces of a war still raging.

"By this time it was mostly too late, Bor, the King of the Norse Gods had all but wiped the Dark Elves from the face of their own realm. Those who survived, fled and locked themselves away, only to return when the Infinity Stone, the Aether was found once more." She continued her story, snorting with distaste as they watched the two women speak with Bor, who seemed to not heed them or listen. "Bor did not need the help of two 'lesser' gods and banished the women from the realm. He took the Aether and hid it away and returned to Asgard. He left Svartalfheim in ruins, the war so terrible that even to this day no live resides on the planet, only mountains and vast plains of barren earth. Not even rain falls."

The humans would have felt some form of sorrow for these creatures if they hadn't enslaved the universe, betrayed the very beings who breathed life not only into them but to all of them.

"With the failure, the two women, returned to their realm, but not without cleansing the realm, hoping that in time the realm would heal and begin anew. Upon arrive they were met with the King of Egyptian Gods, who had watched them and offered them to work with him and his courts to regulate all the gods, Ancient and new, fully aware of their loyalty to their Creators. He from then on, the Keepers did more than just keeping the balance. If ancient relics fell into the wrong hands or ancient powers became wild, they were sent to retrieve them or to tame them down. When the Gods were no longer followed they still kept working to keep the Humans from destroying themselves many times."

They watched as the major events of human history played out and saw the two Advocates, who were always women it seemed, push those who were later hailed as Heroes or pull the strings of events Sometimes the Keepers were long since dead and had no successor ready to take their place when some of the darkest times of the worlds history happened. Eventually they arrived towards the more modern age and eventually they saw a younger Rye as she had said, born in a time long before even their great grandparents had been born.

"Over the ages, my ancestors found the Stones and hid them. We also created fake versions. The fakes were either given to other Advocates or trusted parties, the rest hidden, some in plain site others in secret locations." She smiled. "I skipped over most of life because the majority of it was not spent here, but rather on Jotunheim."

The images faded away and soon they were sitting back in the dining room. Glade, had at some point cleaned up all the plates, set out tea and coffee and was now setting out leather dossiers before them.

"These detail the fake stones and their former locations. I know that four of them have been destroyed completely while one was broken and used to give live to Vision nee Jarvis. The last of the fakes, the Aether is is still hidden away somewhere within the Realm of Midgard. And I do not mean hear on Earth, I mean all layers and dimensions of Earth."

"Wait... so the Tesseract, the Scepter and even this Aether is a fake?" Tony demanded, frowning.

"When We make fakes, we really make them. I am sure Loki has at some point either explained to you or someone that while fake and not nearly as powerful or dangerous as the real stones, in the wrong hands the Fakes can be just as deadly and devastating. And seeing as the Dark Elves sent the Chitauri to find the Aether and to capture my son, you can be damn sure they will try again and come with a lager force. My older sons have already gathered the whole of Jotunheim's army and even Muspelheim's armies. And we know that mixing the Frost and Flame Giants will cause Ragnarok, but instead of the two Elemental giants fighting one another, they are uniting under the same banner to save not only Midgard but the Universe as a whole."

"Alright so if we find the fake Aether, what happens then?"

"I will destroy it like the others." Loki stated.

"And that will piss off the Dark Elves."

"Yes it will, but it will also force them to come for Loki and I need pay back for having to cut my long life short by a life time because I had to commit suicide to escape their prison." She sneered. "I was looking forward to being 290 before I died..." she sighed. "All well... I'll live to at least 103..."

"Mother!?"

"Wife! Why didn't you tell me!?"

"You spoke to Star, Laufey... she told you..." She stated.

He growled low, leaving the table and she sighed, she didn't like having her husband upset with her, however her life was not her own, never really was, but she'd never trade it for another. Loki looked devastated, but she offered him a soft smile, waving a hand after his father and he fled the table, his dessert only three quarters done. She'd make him a larger one later as an apology and she'd eat out Laufey until he could not speak even in tongues to make up for this.

"That's-"

"Fucked up? I know." She sighed. "I am old, I've lived three life times already, I age much slower than you all do, but it is unfair to my family that what should have been five lifetimes, will only be four." Shaking off the melancholy, she began the meeting in earnest. "Please turn to page 4 of your dossier..."

Laufey found himself out in the stables, petting the large stallion, Formir's snout. He heard someone walking in and didn't turn to see who. But he didn't need to. A moment later he was being hugged by his youngest child and he smiled as Loki giggled and in a silly singsong about finally being able to hug him around the waist. He carefully turned them so he could hug his child and kissed his brow.

"Your mother works too hard."

"She didn't mean to upset us, papa..." Loki assured him. "She always said she never had control over her life, the few times she had that control she took it. It's why she married you and had me. Why she raised all of us and ruled at your side."

"I know... She's much older than she is telling us. She's completely otherworldly and it something she has given to you, my Gem..." Laufey sighed. Rye had been right, he met her first mate, Star, the woman had told him things about his wife he had never known, he had seen her in her true form and she was ashamed and tried to hide away. But he loves her, will always love her. "She will eventually tell you, but she has to lie a lot just to keep us safe..."

"It takes a Liar to know a Liar." Loki chirped.

"Yes, but you have only ever lied to protect your brothers from punishment. And to make the members of the court cave in and agree to whatever you or your mother want." Laufey smiled.

"I thought that was called Politics?"

"Hmm, considering I've seen you mother purposely start a brawl and call that Politics, I'd have to agree." Laufey remembered that particular meeting, it had been horrifying, his wife looked vastly amused and he still cringes whenever he sees his wife holding a bottle of rum.

They chuckled softly and Laufey introduced his youngest to Formir, the stallion seemingly falling in love with the boy...

Malekith was not pleased. He was furious! Not only did he lose the Cube and Scepter, his people could not locate the last four Infinity stones! And even then, the Chitauri had the Gem of Jotunheim in their hands and then spectacularly lost him again! And just now, his spies have brought to him the remains of Scharri. He snorted, the arrogant little prince had seriously thought he would be able to steal his prize. The Gem, Prince Loki, was extremely powerful, if still untrained and raw. Not to mention his beauty is only rivaled by his Dam.

"... What the hell is the meaning of this!?" Thanos' voice thundered, walking into the room only to see the mangled and headless body of his son.

"It seems we underestimated the Midgardians." He simply stated. "Not only is this all we recovered of Prince Scharri, but the whole of his armada has been destroyed..."

He waved his hand to show the battle that had been fought, how only a handful of Midgardians had literally beat a massive armada and the final images of the nuke that wiped out the rest of that was waiting for the gate to open up.

"We lost more than that. The Scepter, Strucker, the Tesseract... only four Stones remain uncounted for and I will have the Aether!" He snarled low.

"The Midgardians will regret ever crossing me..." Thanos hissed low.

"Do as you please, but remember the Aether and the Jotun brat are mine!" Malekith hissed back. "Lay waste to Midgard after!"

Thanos snorted and turned to leave, he'd do as he pleased, and it was because of the Jotun whore his son was now dead. He would punish the little creature, make him regret being born. Malekith sneered at Thanos' back, hearing his thoughts and after summoning a spear of dark matter, threw it into the Chitauri King's back, right into his heart.

"You should have left well enough alone..." Malekith snarled low. "Barca!"

A large Elf walked up to him and he smiled coldly.

"I have a mission for you... it will require your life as a sacrifice, however it will not be in vain..."

"My life for your Will, my lord..." Barca acknowledged...

"... and that is all." Ryilia sighed, sitting down finally. "Any questions?"

"How did you condense all that info into only 10 pages of a dossier?" Tony asked, his mind trying to filter and absorb everything she told them.

"Practice." She stated. "I meant questions with what is going to be happening from now on?"

"No." Steve stated.

"Alright, please get some sleep. Keep those with you and if you have any questions or need simpler explanations please tell me." She dismissed them and closed the tome, the book seeming content as she pet it.

Everyone filed out leaving only her and Glade.

"You are sure it is wise to bring so many into the fold?" He asked her.

"You've been at my side the longest, what do you think?" She asked back, smirking amused.

"That you have finally gone insane."

"Can't go insane if I was never sane to begin with... I should call Star and tell her that I am unleashing hell..." She murmured.

"Ms. Quickpaw has left a message: 'Try not to blow up everything again.' She also sent this..." He set down a box and Ryilia snorted.

"Of course..." She smiles opening the box to see her whip inside. "Even on my vacation I'm still working..."

"No rest for the wicked..." Glade smirked.

"Your emotions annoy me." She huffed, getting up and walking off with the box. She had other things to do to get her son ready to take on his title of God and her own Title as well...

Loki was soaking in a nice ice bath, the others had told him what he had missed when he and his father stormed out. His mother has been pulling the strings behind most of the recent events in the world, but someone was also pulling her own strings. She told them that things were falling into place, soon Malekith will reveal his hand to them and they would need to be ready to stand up against this. Taking a breath, he slipped into the water, letting the cold water calm him down, his body suspended between the bottom of the tub and the water surface. Most of the final battle will be waged here on Midgard, but the rest would be finished back where it had all started, Svartalfheim.

He sat up when he heard the bathroom door open and he turned to look at who dared to come in without knocking, but blushed as he saw Thor leaning on the door jam, shirtless and not at all bothered by the extreme cold of his room.

"Thor."

"I am back, Civip Kethend." He smiled. "Mother was most ecstatic to learn that your mother was not dead, but simply in hiding. Heimdall is most annoyed with her, but is glad you have not been harmed. Mother Jalan is preparing the Clutch for War."

"War?"

"It would seem Odin has realized that he cannot pass his reign to my half brother Baldur, for he is not destined to sit upon the Throne of Asgard. He demanded of mother not only her hand back, but also me." Thor frowned then.

"He must think your mother daft." Loki huffed, standing from his bath, the water running down his body in a very enticing manner.

"Indeed... He also demanded we hand you over to him."

"And he must think me as empty headed as most noble born women..." Loki sneered, baring his fangs in displeasure as he stepped out of the water, grabbing his long mass of hair and quickly twisting it to wring all the water from it, shaking it loose once done. "Will the Clutch be well without you?"

"Mother and Mother Jalan will be more than enough to keep them busy. The whole Clutch knows how to fight, everyone skilled in one manner or another. We fight as a pack, and we fall as a pack." Thor grumbled lowly as he walked up to Loki, who was busy drying himself off with a very fluffy towel. "My sole mission and task is to be your sword and shield, your rock and your shelter..."

"And you have been all of these and more... I had a very interesting discussion with Lady Darcy... she told me of the arts to mating..."

"Oh?" Thor purred, a light charge of electricity gathering in his finger tips as he trailed them over the sensitive Jotun flesh, enjoying the hitching moan that was trapped in Loki's throat. "Do tell me... what did she speak of?"

"Hmm... Why tell when showing is much more... pleasurable?" Loki purred and Thor grabbed him by his arse, pulling him up into his arms and their mouths met in a war of love. Thor moved them out of the bathroom and into the main bedroom, dropping Loki onto his nest of a bed. Loki licked his lips with a seductive grace, while baring his teeth. Thor growled in lust as he tore his shirt off, undoing his pants and dropping them to the ground.

"Will your mother be furious I have deflowered her son?" Thor asked.

"Please, she's been planning nurseries since I told her that I will accept no other in my bed other than you." Loki scoffed out, eyeing the naked flesh of Thor. "Truly you would make a very handsome Jotun... such build and my... that is surely not your cock..." Loki stared at his prize which was slowly waking up to stand at attention.

"And if it is?" Thor challenged, grinning as he crawled onto the bed and over Loki.

"Then... my Thunderer, I fear I shall never fit it within my core..." Loki purred.

"I am sure we can make it fit..." Thor grinned, leaning down to capture slightly darker blue lips than the rest of Loki's flesh, one large hand tangling in that waterfall of black hair, the other tracing teasing touches down Loki's throat to his chest, teasing pale purple nipples and over a taught tummy toe kiss a slightly chubbed cocklet to tease over moist lips and dip into a a blazing hot quim that pulsed with lust and desire.

Loki mewled, arching into Thor's touches, battling that tongue for victory. Thor teased him, caressed his folds with light touches and then tortured him with rough pinches to his clit, touching his cocklet into full mast and thrusting his fingers with firm, but still teasing jabs into his wet folds. Loki pulled back, a cry of wanton lust on his lips, his toes curling as his thighs quivered.

"You play dirty, Thor..."

"This is a War of Love, my Loki... All is fair." He grinned, ducking down quickly.

Loki tried to sit up to see what he was up to, but when Thor's fingers were replaced with a mouth, lips, tongue and teeth teasing and torturing his quim, he flopped back, a wail of lust echoing out of him and he was sure it echoed out of the room as well.

"Thor! Goddesses... Ahh!" He mewled, grabbing Thor's head with one hand, the other clawing at his bedding as he ground his wet pussy onto that talented mouth.

Thor ate out the virgin quim with all the hunger of a starving man, lapping at the sweetest nectar this untouched flower could produce before finally Loki wailed his name, his magic flaring out like tendrils and knocking anything that was not bolted down or already on the ground to the floor. He flopped into a boneless pool of Jotun flesh before he suddenly snapped his legs tight around Thor's head, using strength that was not widely known to anyone, flipped them over so he was sitting upon Thor's face, grinning at him with a maddened lustful gleam in his eyes.

"You will do that again, pet... and maybe I shall let you place that wonderful cock of yours in me..." Loki snarled out as Thor growled, making him moan as the vibrations raced up and down his maidenhood.

"Do not challenge me, Loki..." Thor snarled. "I will destroy you..."

"Promises..." Loki tutted and ground down on Thor's tongue, mewling as he bite the knuckle of his right index finger while his left hand tangled in his hair playing with it as Thor watched the wanton display before his eyes took on the mix of the Beast, his tongue snaking in deeper and oooh, it was forked at the tip! "Mmm, destroy me..."

"As you wish..."

Meanwhile...

Ryilia had been pouring over her tomes when she snapped the book she was looking at closed and blushed hotly.

"Wife?" Laufey asked, coming into the library, ignoring Vision, who was floating around the top looking at the books.

"I know I said I wanted grandchildren, but really!?" She huffed, fanning herself. "Curse Sight... I would rather be blind at this moment. I do not wish to see our son being deflowered."

"What?! Loki, Daddy is coming!" Laufey cried, turning to run out of the room, but his wife was faster, she tackled him to the floor with rope she summoned up and tied him up quickly. "Nooooo! My baby! He's too young!"

"Shut up..." She huffed. "You will get me pregnant with another child or so help me Chaos I will get you pregnant and you do not wish to see what I am like as a Man." She growled as she dragged him to their room and slammed the door shut.

Vision shook his head, mumbling about humans and their uncontrollable libidos...

Thor gasped for air, after driving Loki to orgasm for the second time with only his mouth, he flipped them over and grinned at the dazed prince. His quim was blushing a very pretty navy blue to match the same flush upon Loki's cheeks, nose and even the tips of ears. Thor wiped the juices from his face and neck, using Loki's secretions as lube to coat his cock before he lined the head with the hungry lips of Loki's pussy.

"This may hurt, but seeing as you are near Valhalla from two climaxes, you may hardly twitch..." Thor informed him, Loki giving a garbled moan in response, before he sucked in a sudden breath at the first press of Thor's crown.

Thor was by no means a small man, but he was not abnormally large either. He had a nice 8 inch cock in length, and 2-2.5 inches thick, with the added knot from his beast that did not inflate until he has reached climax, the knot itself expands to about 5ins in diameter. He will not knot Loki this time around, not until they have sufficiently trained him to take it.

Loki was gasping and moaning, the sheer thickness of Thor was almost too much and then the crown popped in, a slight tearing sensation making him whimper in pain, but that pain soon faded as Thor eased more of his cock in, but not even half fight inside of him.

"This is too much..." Thor told him, shaking and gasping. "Too soon for you to take me as a whole..."

"R- right... Oh god... you are so big..." Loki mewled out, lust drunk by now.

Thor chuckled and after giving his little prince a moment or two to adjust, he eased out and then thrust back in almost lazily. He was horny, he wanted to fuck Loki into the next lifetime, but he was not so much a monster that he would harm his beloved more than he had. His poor sweet, no longer virgin Prince was a horny little thing, if the moans and begging was anything to go by, not to mention how demanding he had been when he ordered Thor to pleasure him with his mouth a second time. He built up a steady rhythm and Loki seemed to gain enough of his senses to tangle their tongues in another battle, the Jotun prince having lost the first two in this little Love War of theirs.

"Thor... n- no more..." Loki gasped, he was nearly at his peak for the third time that night, but he was also become very sensitive to the point it was almost painful.

"Almost there, hold on a little longer..." Thor whispered out on a growl as the Beast nuzzled and marked the long neck before them.

Loki mewled and gasped, arching and finally his eyes rolled back on a scream of climax, Thor thrusting only twice more before pulling out completely, his knot forming and then he began to come in a seemingly endless stream across Loki's body, the Jotun on a quick trip to Nirvana. By the time Thor finally stopped cumming, about 15 minutes later, Loki seemed to come back to life as well and was looking at Thor with satisfaction painted on his lips.

"We will take our time next time..." Loki purred. "But I would not mind this again."

"Oh course." Thor chuckled, getting up to get a damp towelette to wipe off Loki. He trembled only slightly in the air, the curse keeping him warm. "Come..." Thor coaxed Loki to sit up upon his return and began to clean him of their mess. He had to wash the cloth at least twice before he folded the damp material and placed it between Loki's legs, turning him on his side and then climbing into bed behind him. "Sleep now, my love... You will be sore in the morning..."

"I am sore now..." Loki grumbled, sleepy and achy.

"Shh..." Thor soothed, trailing kisses up and down Loki's neck. "Sleep..."

"... Zzz..." Loki's little snore was unexpected and it was adorable. Thor couldn't help but purr as he allowed some of the Beast free, curling around his Jotun, promising they would have a proper mating later...

Ryilia looked up and smiled.

"They seem to be done now..." She hummed.

She only got a sleepy grumble from her exhausted husband, whom she had ate out until he begged to be fucked, which she had been more than happy to do, though she regrets using a strap on instead of her male form, but hey, now was not the time for baby making especially with all the stress that was coming. She chuckled and kissed his cheek before settling herself on his chest and humming softly as she dozed off.

"... And another one bites the dust..." She mumbled grinning darkly...


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Morning came and everyone was woken up by Bella, Janis and Yanis. Thor growled at the three maids as he shielded a sleepy Loki from their sight. They ignored him, set out a small tray with tea, a bottle of medicine and set about preparing the bath for Loki and then leaving the room. Loki grumbled as he sat up, shoving Thor off the bed so he could reach for the tea. Thor pouted at Loki, who only seemed to have eyes for his tea, the medicine and the bath. Once the Jotun was in the tub, after taking the painkillers and finishing his tea, Thor came in to help him wash his hair.

"Not awake this morning, love?"

"No..." Loki moaned, looking like he wanted to crawl back into bed, but knew he could not be lazy. "But we have much work to do... Lady Frigga?"

"As I said last night, she and the rest of the Clutch are preparing for war with Odin. Sif and the the Warriors remained with them. They have more than enough warriors to at least hold out." Thor spoke as he combed the tangled mess of hair, being gentle and careful.

"I swear the Norns hate us right now..." Loki grumbled, sitting up to begin washing his body while his lover finished tending his hair. "First the attack on my home, mother shortening her life to save both father and herself from Malekith's hands, then the 'Stones' popping up on Midgard and the mes with both Ultron and the Chitauri Invasion. Now the war with Odin and the final, or so I am hoping, battle with Malekith. All that remains is the 'Aether'. I cannot help but curious as to where the real Infinity Stones are hidden..."

"If you haven't figured it out yet, my dearest, then you will not figure it out until it is possibly too late." Ryilia's voice startled them.

"Mother!" Loki gasped.

"My lady..." Thor bowed his head.

"Please, call me Mama Rye!" She chirped. "After all you and Loki finally mated, though it was a rush job and not formal, but hey! Sex is sex and by Jotun law, you are married! And by my tribe's standards, you are intended to marry, you are only married in my tribe if Loki is preggers, but I am glad you did not impregnate him just yet."

"How did-"

"Being able to see the Then, Now and Near are a pain in the ass, you know that? I saw everything." She grumbled. "It's weird seeing your parents have sex and it's equally as horrifying when its your kid! No... it's more disturbing because I keep flashing back to when you were a tiny little baby!" She began to sob then, but then she sniffed and stopped. "Sorry, Chaos and Emotions don't mix too well, we fluctuate too often to really settle on a single emotion... Ah, your father's going to be in bed for the day. He's well, just not able to stand..."

Thor sniffed the air and his eyes went wide, blushing and paling at the same time. The sudden draining and flushing of his lover's face didn't go unnoticed by Loki and he gaped.

"Mother!" Loki slapped hands to his ears, singing to drown her out.

"Well, glad he takes after me more than I care to admit... When you two are done, we are having breakfast in the family room." She turned on heel and was about to leave when she looked over her shoulder. "Oh and Thor?"

"Mama Rye?"

"Next time do not attack my staff when you suddenly appear. They were only doing their jobs, protecting this place." She stated.

"They are not dead."

"No, but you left me shorthanded and well... I'm very peculiar about how my home is run..." She left then as Loki sighed and climbed to his feet, standing wet and naked as he had the previous night.

"Let's hurry, mother's going to be in a mood." Loki stated as Thor helped him out of the tub and after grabbing a towel, began to dry his beloved. Loki wrapped the cloth around his body and headed towards his closet to get dressed as Thor cleaned himself off.

Loki tossed him clean clothes and he quickly got dressed as well before they headed out of the room and down the hall, Loki's Jotun flesh melting back into his Midgardian form. The others were sitting down eating when the walked in and Tony grinned.

"So you took out almost the whole staff! Nice one!" He laughed. "Though I think Mrs. Nubia is more pissed at you incapacitating her PA, Evergreen."

"I will apologize to them all-"

"Don't worry about it." Ryilia stated, walking into the room with a tray full of tea and coffee. "I'm over it, Glade's alright, just bruised and his ego is a bit battered. The others are more scared shitless than really hurt... that is a very powerful and frightening curse you are under, young Aesir."

"I've been trying to figure out how to break it, but nothing seems to be a proper solution." Loki stated.

"Hmm, I'm afraid the only way this curse can be broken is with Love, Loki. Unconditional love. For both Man and Beast." His mother told him. "You love Thor, but do you love the Beast?"

"I'm not bothered or disturbed by it and I do have affection for it, but I do not love it, at least not yet." Loki admitted.

"Wait... curse!?" Steve asked.

"When Thor gets Cranky." Loki stated.

"When were you going to tell us?!" Tony fussed.

"It was not of importance." Vision supplied. "Thor has exceptional control of the Beast from what I can see and Ms. Lewis as well as Loki have hinted at it more than enough. Loki is obviously someone or something that keeps Thor anchored to humanity."

"I'm also his biggest trigger, especially seeing as we joined the night previous." Loki stated.

"I am not hearing this! Laalalalalala!" Ryilia cried out, hands over her ears as she sang loudly., eyes shut tight.

"... It's actually funny when you look at it..." Bruce murmured as Wanda giggled. Pietro smirked into his coffee.

"Alright, so while Mrs. Nubia is in denial, what are we going to do? We now have better understanding of what is going on, we know that the Aether that Dark Elves are after is a fake, the real Infinity Stones are still very well hidden." Steve began the brain storming session.

Loki fingered his bracelet, thinking as Thor set about serving them breakfast, he liked catering to his mate, sue him.

"Mother, when Bor defeated the Elves when did it happen and what did he do with the Aether?"

"It's not in the Vaults of Asgard, that is for sure. Bor may have been a prick, but he had much more sense and a level enough head to know not to keep something like the Aether near the rest of those relics." Ryilia suddenly spoke up, no longer singing or ignoring them. "When it happened... it was during the Convergence The Convergence is when all the Realms align. Much like when all nine planets- fuck everyone who says Pluto is no longer a Planet- line up once every 500 years. The Convergence happens every 5,000 years, give or take a few centuries and a decade or two."

"Huh... you know this how?" Bucky drawled

"..." Ryilia's deadpanned stare made Bucky twitchy. "Your grandmother use to call you Barney."

Everyone gaped as Bucky looked like he shat a brick.

"Now then, unlike the Planets aligning -I swear I'm going to kill that man who keeps predicting the end of the world and causing mass panic- where nothing happens other than the off chance of both a Solar and a Lunar eclipse happening, a shift in tides and all the crazies running around. The Realms when they converge, it has very random effects on Midgard, or Earth... whatever! Look here." Ryilia hissed in annoyance before another of her tomes flew in and enlarged it self to show a very detailed drawing of Yggdrasil, the Life Tree or the Gods' Tree as some cultures called it.

"Alright at the very top of the tree is Asgard, at the very bottom is Svartalfheim. At the very ends of Yggdrasil's roots, this realm is the furthest from the light and Ruled by the Dark Elves. Above them is Niffleheim and Hel, or as many call the two Realms, Helheim. The land of the Dishonorable Dead and ruled by Hel. It's an icy and fog ridden realm, cast almost always in darkness. This realm is entangled within the roots of Yggdrasil."

She pointed out the two realms on the tree before moving to the double rings that floated just below Midgard, which was the very center of the tree forming the trunk. The two rings were considered the 'ground' from which Yggdrasil grew from.

"Here is Jotunheim, the inner ring and the Realm belonging to the Giants, though because we lost the Casket, it has become the land of Frost Giants. The outer ring and our Twin is Muspelheim, the home of Fire Giants and Demons. Midgard is the trunk of the tree and this here? This third 'ring' is the World Snake or Jörmungandr. Many believe he is an actual snake that protects us from the other Realms and thus making it so we are unaware of the events out side of our own stupidity. Others think he is the Ocean Currents that weave their way around the whole planet. And a few think he's the Asteroid Belt."

Everyone snickered at the unimpressed look on Ryilia's face at some of the stupidity of humans.

"I can tell you that the first opinion is very close to what Jörmungandr actually does and is. Now then at the lowest branches of Yggdrasil is Nidavellir, home of the Dwarves. Above them near the middle of the branches is Alfheim, the Realm of the Light Elves, above them is is Vanaheim, nearly towards the top of the tree. And finally is Asgard at the very top of the tree. And in some paintings or drawings you see a star, this star is the doorway to Valhalla, the final resting place for the Honorable Dead, be they human or otherwise."

They were amazed at the detailing of the drawing and understood the structure of the Realms a bit better.

"I remember this lesson." Loki suddenly spoke up, standing up and pointing to Jörmungandr. "During the Convergence, Jörmungandr goes to sleep for the length of the event."

"Right, it's pretty short, only a few days long give or take a few hours. And while he is sleeping, strange phenomenon happen world wide, but most don't notice it. Humans are truly kept ignorant of all that happens out side of their Realm. Ignorance is Bliss." She shrugged.

"You told me that once the Realms are perfectly aligned, the realms above and below Midgard cause a sort of magnetic pull. The Telluric lei lines blur into those of the realms and even the Natural Paths warp and mesh." Loki added. "Like in one place gravity is distorted to allow things to float or make it seem as something or someone has super strength. Things can vanish and reappear in different spots or vanish permanently. Even weird and chaotic weather changes."

"Right." She nodded her head, smiling with pride.

"So we need to keep our eyes out for these events?" Pietro asked.

"I've been looking around and it seems some of these occurrences that Mr. Loki has listed while not publicly reported to local authorities or new medias, have occurred... Mr. Stark?"

Tony set down a small nearly flat circular disk on the table which opened up into a holovid and Vision accessed a few Blogs and a couple of YouTube clips showing kids and teens standing in seemingly random spots. The first clip had a boy jump from a tall building, his friends close, but not no where near to catch him. Ryilia nearly panicked only to see the boy stop falling halfway to the ground and then he seemed to swim through the air before flipping and landing safely on his feet.

Another clip was with the kids standing in random places, one girl picked up a bottle of soda and dropped it off the top of the stairs, but it vanished a foot down and came flying out of a wall, right passed her friend and up through the floor to vanish into the air again only to drop down at the middle of the stairs and into the hands of another friend.

"Well fuck..." Ryilia groaned, quickly counting on her fingers and muttering in what sounded like AllSpeak before she let out a cry and scrubbed her hands in her hair. "Fuck me sideways! The Convergence has started and with the weakening of the Realms' Barriers... Shit! I am fucking stupid! Hanni!" She ran out of the room, yelling for someone.

"Uhh... I am noticing that your mom's not exactly all there..." Tony began, slowly circling a finger by his temple in the seemingly universal sign of someone being crazy. "But what's got her goat this time?"

"Mother doesn't own goats anymore, she lost most of them to goat eating demons." Loki stated.

…

Wait...

He was being serious!?

"Why is your mom spazzing?" Tony tried again.

"Oh... I see now... To be honest I do not know, but I get the feeling we are about to have some light shed on this topic." Loki mused, watching his mom walk in with a man in a fine suit, he was holding one of the really old and very delicate tomes in his hands as his mother was yelling down her cellphone at someone.

"WELL GET ME THE DAMN PRIME MINISTER THEN! Shit just fucked up and you know I hate it when shit fucks up!" She bellowed at last before she hung up and threw the phone at the wall, smiling in pleasure when it shattered, but then she pulled out another phone, messed with it a bit and then slipped it into the clip on her hip. "Now then..."

Loki finished his food, grabbing the other tome to leaf through it while his mother skimmed the other one. He noticed that everything was handwritten and drawn, the styles changing every now and again, stories and myths were recorded, dates and events too. And then he saw something that made him sit up more.

"Mother..." He called.

"You have something, darling?" She turned to look over his shoulder as Thor did the same, but the runes and handwriting was not something he could read.

"During the last Convergence what happened, you explained what it was, but not what happened..." He pointed out. "Because this looks like a very detailed recording of what happened during a Convergence."

"Ah, right, well as you know Malekith stole the 'Stones' from Chaos and Death, but lost all but one during his escape. The one he kept, the 'Aether', he used it to bend reality to make his will real and what he wanted was eternal darkness for all, to rule over all. Bor and the Einherjar came and with light from both the Valkyries and the Light Elves, banished the darkness from Svartalfheim and a massive war was fought. And as you know Bor won, the devastation was irreparable and the Dark Elves locked themselves away until they could find the Aether again. And now with the Convergence happening-"

"The Barriers are weakening. We know." Bucky cut in.

"Yes, but the Dark Elves are awake, meaning they can sense the Aether, and the closer to the full Convergence we get, the stronger the chance they have to find it. And if Bor hid it away during the last one it would have to be here, on Midgard and if I'm right, mother, it's in a dimension pocket."

"Right, one that only a Keeper or a God could open normally out side of the Convergence. There is no telling where it is and who might unwittingly might stumble-"

Everyone jumped when a cellphone began ringing rather annoyingly before Thor answered his phone and frowned at Darcy's rather panicked screeching and rambling.

"What do you mean Lady Jane is missing?!" He demanded.

Loki took the phone and walked away to calm Darcy down and to get the details from her as Thor growled, one of the Clutch was missing and possible in danger, he didn't like that and the Beast was just as pissed. Ryilia turned to Hanni, the blond man set the Tome down and was on a tablet clicking away as she pulled up her phone and began calling a few people and shooting off rapid fire orders.

"If she runs things this well, why hasn't she taken over the world?" Steve wondered.

"Because I did that already and was bored within a week." She stated, covering the mouth of the phone before turning her attention back to the call.

"She rules an entire race of people, I'm sure she has enough on her plate being a Queen." Bruce reminded them.

"She is also a very rich woman who has far reaching connections. She must nurture them well if they obey her commands, regardless if she yells or not." Wanda hummed.

"Vision, please pull up the YouTube video that was up loaded within the last three days with the Convergence phenomenon happening?" Loki asked. "Preferably in Europe..."

He did as asked and they holovid appeared and as they watched they saw Darcy, a young man and Jane with a group of children watching as a bottle of some kind of juice loop fell until one of the kids caught it. He paused the video and began to look through satellite imaging to try and find where they could possibly be.

"Here." They watched as the satellite imaging zoomed in on what looked like an abandoned freight yard and factory.

"Alright... Thor." Loki called his lover to his side.

"Wait Loki!" Ryilia called, tossing him two cylinders. "Take those, and try not to hurt anyone unless it's an Elf... even the Light ones need a beat down every now and again. Also, I have a jet on standby already. Be careful."

"We will mother." Loki smirked as he and the others quickly went to get ready and left...

Darcy was freaking out! In the last day or two, she only got to hang out with Loki long enough for him and the Avengers to settle into Nubia's frigging palace, that was not a chateau lady! And then she had requested to be taken to the airport because she had been getting rather worrying emails from Selvig, who had gone a little cuckoo after the whole Chitauri incident. She didn't even tell the others she was going and really things don't have gotten worse, until they did.

Okay, she wasn't all that freaked out, but whatever, there was some freaky shit that even she wasn't cool with, especially when her boss suddenly disappears! She sent the children home so they wouldn't get in trouble before she made a call to Thor. Thor and Loki assured her they were coming to help find Jane and they would be there in a few short hours. However while she was on the phone with them, her assistant, Ian Boothby, called the police. Now she was being questioned, trying not to strangle the taller boy and wanting to call Thor again. And it was raining in merry old England and she was cold dammit!

"... Look I am telling you one minute she was next to me and the next she was just gone! Instead of standing here, go look for-"

"Darcy?" Jane's voice could be heard as she slowly walked toward them.

"Jane!? Where the hell did you go?! You've been missing for hours!" She cried out, running over to her and was instantly aware that the rain no longer fell on her when she got within 15 feet of Jane. The Policeman walked over to them, Ian moving behind them nervously.

"Dr. Foster?" He asked her.

"Yes, may I help you?" She asked.

"Are you alright? Where did you go, you have been missing over over 8 hours. And is that car yours?" He pointed to a tiny little red thing that barely fit her let alone Darcy and Ian with their things. "And the equipment as well?"

"Yes, they do, but-"

"You do realize this is a restricted area and you are now under arrest, correct?"

"What?!" The three of them cried out.

Before they could react or really move, the Officer grabbed Jane's arm and the second he did, something dark and ominous pulsed out of her, sending a shockwave through the air and knocking everyone down.

Jane was dizzy and had momentarily blacked out. Darcy slowly sat up, reaching for her glasses and blinked when a hand was offered to help her onto her feet. Taking it, she got up and looked to see Loki smiling softly at her.

"Hello Darcy." He smiled.

"Loki!" She hugged him tightly, "It's been days! Are you better, what about those nasty roach things, did they hurt you!?"

"No, I'm alright. Thor?" Loki turned to his lover, who was cautiously tending to Jane.

"She's weak, but she's alright for now." Thor assured him, sniffing her and even tracing her body with enough electricity to power an ultrasound machine. "However there is something in her."

"What!?" Jane gasped.

"Shit..." Tony grunted, Friday running scans and he was seeing the readouts on his visor. "Whatever it is, it's slowly draining her, her vitals are not where they should be for a woman in good health and at her age."

"We need to get her back to the Tower to run tests-" Bruce began.

"I'm sorry Dr. Banner but there's nothing you can do for her... We're going to need Lady Frigga's helps..." Loki sighed.

"What about your mother?" Steve asked.

"Wait, you found your mom!?" Darcy gasped.

"Yes, the Lady Nubia is actually the Mother of Loki." Thor told her.

"Whoa... wait... she lied to us!" Darcy gasped.

"Actually she did not. But that's for later... Lord Stark, please give the report to mother... We will be back as soon as we can. Heimdall, we need to return!" Loki called up to the heavens and in a moment the BiFrost was opened.

"Oh hell no, we are coming with you!" Tony stated.

"I will go back and tell Mrs. Nubia." Bruce offered, nervous to travel through the beam of light

"We're coming too." Steve and Bucky nodded.

"Vision."

"I will keep an eye on the Twins and the others, Mr. Stark. Please take care and be careful." Vision assured.

"I'm coming too!" Darcy stated, she wanted to see Sif again! Ian tagged along because he wasn't sure if he could decline going.

Once everyone got in the center of the light, they were gone. The Police blinked in confusion as they looked around them.

"Excuse me, this is a restricted area-"

"We are with Mrs. Nubia's company." Bruce stated and the man paled and quickly began apologizing, informing them that they would remain close by if they needed anything but to continue doing whatever it was the woman wanted them to do. The officer walked away as the others grumbled and chattered to each other. "Looks like a memory spell..."

"I did not detect anything... Perhaps it something to do with the light?" Wanda asked.

Pietro's cell began chiming and he answered it only to hear Ryilia's smug voice tell him, "Heimdall made it so those who are not in the know do not remember what happened moments prior to the BiFrost opening and leaving them momentarily stunned to allow one to implant a suggestion or an idea. Very handy that. Otherwise humans would have freaked out long ago from the constant visits of others to the Realm of Midgard."

"Okay that is freaky how she does that." Pietro stated, when he realized she hung up on them.

"Let's see what we can find and get Dr. Foster's things back to Lady Nubia and perhaps locate Dr. Selvig." Bruce suggested...

Jane and Darcy were in awe of the swirling lights around them. Tony's visor was littered in displays, Friday chattering as fast as a three year old on sugar in her excitement of the new findings. Steve and Bucky held still, afraid that they would end up somewhere strange if they moved. Loki and Thor were unbothered by bridge as in those few short moments, they were suddenly stepping out into the Hub. Heimdall was just removing the sword from the central dial and walked down the dais to look over the humans.

"Greetings, Midgardians. I am Heimdall, Gate Keeper of the Asgard, Son of the Nine Mothers." He greeted. "Thor, Loki, it pleases me that you are well."

"Thank you, Heimdall." Thor smiled.

"Godfather, you look very amused." Loki noted, seeing how Heimdall's eyes looked at him and yet through him.

"Yes, you mother is planning a few rather humorous, but unfortunate surprises for a few Midgardians and the Dark Elves." He stated calmly.

"Oh boy..." Steve groaned.

Loki giggled, his own mind wandering with all the possibilities. After a moment, he seemed to control himself as he waved his hand to the humans.

"We will not have an issue bringing the Mortals here?" he asked.

"Normally I would not have answered your call, however there is something wrong with the young lady and I have not been overly fond of the King since he hurt the Queen." Heimdall drawled out lowly, his powerful voice rumbling within the golden building. "Be quick, now. It seems that the King has taken notice."

Loki and Thor nodded and guided the humans out of the Hub, a few horses were waiting for them already, Loki smiled back at his Godfather who quirked a smirk before his face fell back into its usual look of indifference. Thor climbed one horse with Jane before him and Darcy behind him as Loki climbed another, Tony was still in his Iron Man suit so he would be flying with them. Steve and Bucky climbed the last horse and soon they were racing down the Bridge, quickly ducking off the main road and taking the hidden paths through the forests to get back to Lilithorn.

Night was nearly upon them when they road into the village, the late evening market was winding up, but still a busy place. As soon as they road in, the villagers all cheered and rushed to greet them, a few running off to inform the Queen and Lady Jalan of their return. Loki climbed off his horse as the women all cooed and fluttered about him. It seemed that seeing his mother had really done him some wonders. The people gasped at the red man who was flying over their heads. Steve and Bucky were awed at, for they were smaller, but very handsome. Darcy grinned as a few people offered her fruits and jewels, but Thor's low growl made them back off.

A sudden roar filled the air and the people scattered like roaches, back to their homes. A series of doors slamming and locks clicking being the only sound before the great flapping of wings met their ears and in a moment a large golden dragon dropped before them. On its head was a golden woman, she slipped from her perch as the dragon began to morph into a human woman. The humans blushed as they realized the Dragon turned woman was naked save for liquid gold that seemed to dance about her body, always covering her private areas, but also threatening to reveal them.

"Mother, Mother Jalan..." Thor smiled, slipping from his own horse, helping the two women down as Frigga walked to him quickly and pulled him into her embrace.

"Welcome home, my love!" She grinned. "I thought you would be gone longer from your last visit..."

"Things had changed." Loki stated.

"Loki!" She cooed, pulling him into her embrace as well, playing with his longer hair and awing at how bright and clear his aura was now.

"I found Mother and she's as insane as ever." Loki smiled brightly.

"Very good, Civip Kethend..." Jalan purred, walking up to them, pulling Loki to her and draping herself over him. "Now you need to smell like the Clutch..."

Thor rolled his eyes as Jalan rubbed herself over Loki, who let her.

"Mother, Mother Jalan, these are the newest additions to our Clutch." Thor stated, his tone leaving no room for argument, not that Frigga would have, but Jalan might have. "The Ladies, Darcy Lewis and Jane Foster. Lord Anthony Stark, Lord Steven Rogers and Lord James Buchanan Barnes." He indicated each person in turn and they all gave bows or curtsies to the two women. "There are more, however they opted not make the journey and we did not wish to linger."

"Yes, that is understandable. Heimdall has kindly informed us of all that has been happening. Come let us get home so you may explain all that is happening now." Frigga smiled and Jalan jumped into the air, transforming back into her natural form, the demoness flying off to hunt enough meat for tonight's dinner. As soon as they arrived at the Mansion that was the home of their Clutch, Thor and Loki were tackled by the others, hugged and scolded, some demanding stories and the like.

It was a chaotic whirlwind of activity for the next hour or two as dinner was prepared and cooked, rooms for their guests made up and finally as they sat in the yard, around the large fires slowly roasting boar meat, Thor told them of his and Loki's time on Midgard, spinning the tale with all the flare and pomp of a seasoned storyteller. Loki smiled as the few children in the clutch cuddled to him, asking if he was scared or hurt at all. Loki assured them that he was well and that his enemies suffered much more than he had. Tony and Bucky were very entertained by stories while Steve tried to censor the blonde God, but a Mother told him to stop, that the children have seen Jalan eat people and burn them to husks on a near daily basis.

Jalan just shrugged and stated that while she frowns upon eating humans normally, she made an except every now and again because the human had either a) killed one of her children, b) tried to steal from her hordes, or c) attempted to take her Golden Mate. Frigga had also told him that she's killed her fair share of people before the children, all to defend them. Sif's mother chipped in by stating that of all the things they have seen so young, Thor was by far the worst. Loki only chuckled because Thor has only ever shown himself to Darcy and Jane

"Thor, it is nearly time." Loki told him and the blonde looked to the east where the sun's last few dying rays were winking out.

Thor sighed, finishing his mead and walking toward the forest.

"Wait... Where's he going?" Steve wondered.

"He, much like me, has been forcing himself to remain in our least threatening forms." Loki shrugged. "Alright everyone inside, we all know the routine!"

The children whined, but the tired yawning and sleepy rubbing of eyes betrayed them, the mothers and fathers herded their little ones into the mansion, bidding a good evening to the Queens of their Clutch. Sif wrapped her arm around Darcy as Frigga directed the guards to quickly take their posts. Hogun chuckled as he pulled out his knife, checking the edge before they all heard a loud and monstrous roar fill the air. Jane yelped and Loki chuckled.

"Come." Frigga ordered, turning and walking into the building, the others have no other choice but to follow her.

Loki was the lest to enter the building, standing just on the threshold as Jalan stood behind him, seeming to examine him from head to toe before she smiled and left him be. She was very proud of her son, his chosen mate was excellent in power, beauty and breeding. He was also a very kind and patient man, though she sensed a darkness that did not bode well for his enemies, this pleased her greatly. Loki smiled when in the darkness, just at the edge of the forest, he saw a pair of icy blue on red eyes looking at him. He whispered a few words to the Beast, smiling when white fangs appeared in a menacing smile before the Beast ran off...

Steve couldn't really sleep. It was too quiet, Bucky's snores not withstanding. He wasn't use to such soft things and even more so the large room. Opulence didn't suit him, his shoulder training should have helped him fall asleep anywhere, anywhen, but not this time. Slowly rolling out of bed, smiling at Bucky's blue eye that popped open to glare balefully at him.

"Sorry, can't sleep..." he whispered.

"I can tire you out..."

"We are in someone else's house!" Steve gasped out, blushing furiously.

Bucky chuckled as she pushed himself up and rolled out of bed. The pair left the room only to blink seeing Tony standing in the hall, the Iron Man suit beside him talking with Friday.

"Ok, so you can't sleep either? This place is too quiet and the air's too tense." Tony grumped.

"You should all be in bed." Frigga's voice suddenly spoke, startling them. She snapped her fingers and four orbs of fire danced about her, dimly lighting the hall.

"Sorry, but its..."

"Come along then..." she ordered softly, walking passed them and down the hall.

They followed her as she went down the stairs, but stopped on the bottom step to see Loki walking out of the mudroom, Thor's Mudroom.

"Loki?"

"Yes?" He asked her, smiling as he stopped, blinking when he saw the others. "He's getting cleaned up, he brought me another boar... it looks like I will be cooking breakfast."

Frigga perked up at that, she very much enjoyed Loki's cooking, but then she frowned again.

"The air is tense."

"Thor spotted some people out side of the territory, Odin's People. They haven't set foot on our land, but Thor's not stupid enough to step out of it either." Loki stated.

"Tsk, he is trying my patience!" She hissed, but startled when Thor walked out of the mudroom, damp and shirtless, he bared his fangs at her, the red surrounding the blue of his eyes getting brighter. "Hush! I was not hissing at Loki!"

"Ignore him..." Loki sighed, walking into the sitting room as Thor hurried after him. "Come on, I hate shouting to speaking."

The four walked into the living room to see Jane and Darcy settled on a nest, Loki sitting by them but Thor was gone. In his place was a massive creature. The three humans gasped because they couldn't tell if it was a lion, bear or even a wolf, rows of razor sharp fangs filled a mouth that could eat a quarter of a man in a single bite, large paws with long deadly talons. A forked tongue lulled out of the side of its mouth while those same dual colored eyes looked at them, but after a moment, the creature moved.

"Don't move, don't panic." Loki stated, seeing the three tense. "The Beast needs to imprint you as much as Thor has to confirm you are Clutch, only the Clutch is safe from him."

"He has not done this before now?" Frigga's asked when the Beast murmured, butting her belly with billowing snuffles, nuzzling his dame before moving to poke at the three men behind her, he knocked over the Iron Man suit in annoyance when he realized when there was no one inside of it.

"Humans tended to attack first ask questions later." Loki stated. "If not they faint from the fear alone."

She chuckled in understanding, giggling even more when Bucky yelped as the Beast knocked him down, laying on his chest.

"Aww, he wants cuddles!" Darcy giggled, getting up to sit next to the Beast's large head, draping herself on his neck, digging her fingers into thick fur and give him a good scratching.

"Is.. is this what you've been hinting at!?" Steve finally squeaked out.

"Is this what you were avoiding happening?" Tony wondered.

"Yes and yes. Thor has been like this since he was a babe, he's actually very much in control, however he does not always wish to be in control. Our time of Midgard forced him to remain in his human form, least he be attacked or captured. It is very rare for him to lose control and if you do not believe me, you may ask Lady Frigga herself, however, my lady, we have another matter to discuss."

"It's about the young woman, she's infected with something powerful." Frigga nodded sagely.

"Yes, the Aether." Loki stated.

Everyone gasped.

"So we got the damn thing these people keep attacking us for?"

"Yes. Four of the stones are destroyed already, the fifth has been entrusted with Vision and the last is now possessing Dr. Foster." Loki summed up for Frigga.

"You cannot extract it from her?" she wondered.

"Not without knowing what might happen to the Lady Jane." Loki stated.

"Well I should call for Lady Eir come morn." She murmured. "Do you feel sick at all?"

"No... a little faint and tired, but otherwise I'm alright." Jane admitted. "This thing doesn't really do anything unless you touch me."

"Even then it only reacts if it senses a possible threat to the host and thus itself, even if it is killing the Host." Loki stated.

"What?!" Steve gasped.

"So how long until Dr. Foster's life is in danger?" Bucky asked, from where he was laying down, Thor content to use him as a human sized teddy bear.

"It's in danger now, it's slow going, but how slow is not something I can measure. We need a Soul Board to determine how much time we have, but if I had to take a shot in the dark, my guess is a week, give or take a day." Loki huffed out as Thor seemed to have enough of Bucky and went and grabbed Tony, his broad and sandpaper like tongue grooming the genius' short hair.

Tony shivered with each pass of the tongue, but otherwise said nothing or ignored Thor.

"He does this a lot doesn't he?" He asked.

"Mostly to the children." Loki giggled.

"See even the Beast thinks you're a child." Steve grinned as he helped Bucky up.

"Don't mock him because you're the last one he's going to bond with and you better hope he doesn't decide you need a bath too." Darcy giggled.

"The Lady Eir, is she not within the Palace?" Loki asked for confirmation.

"Yes she is. She and Idun both are still in the Palace, not by choice mind you." Frigga sighed.

"Alright so it's a matter of sneaking into the Palace..." Tony said.

"Not that simple." Darcy began. "Think about it, all the legends and Myths says that Thor and Loki grew up as brothers raised in Asgard's Golden Palace, but Loki isn't even adopted by Frigga, if anything he'll marry into the family via Thor. Thor himself while often spoken of as a Berserker, isn't wholly human! And we're in a Mansion on the edge of Asgard, the Palace is at the very heart of Asgard. I take it that you and Odin didn't get along?"

"Believe me, young Darcy, I loved my husband, loved him so much I was blinded. Ignored the signs of his unfaithfulness until it cost my Thor." She sighed. Thor whined, dropping Tony to go lay his massive head on his mother's lap as she petted his brow, smiling. "Jalan, the Demoness, had come to the palace to seek revenge against Odin for he killed one her children, a child he helped create it would seem. She didn't kill Thor, but she cursed him made him into a demon like her... this is the result."

They looked at the massive creature who was contently being petted, not at all bothered by anything being said.

"Every night he turns into this, the mind of a beast and uncontrollable, but as Thor grew, he learned to change at will, to curb his urges and habits. Jalan greatly disapproves of any of her children eating human flesh, but every now and gain will allow it. Thor's east his fair share of his fellow Men." She grinned cruelly then.

"He ate nearly an entire battalion of Dark Elves to save me." Loki chirped, a blush filling his cheeks. "At the time I was so scared I fainted, but after I recovered and learned what he did... well if Thor had been born Jotun, I'd have to fight every other Jotun to keep him to myself."

Frigga giggled.

"Okay, you are warped." Tony stated.

Steve yelped when Thor turned and pulled him into his side, curling around him, sniffing and nuzzling as the blonde struggled a moment before reluctantly relaxing in his hold.

"Why am I the one to get the tongue bath and Super Soldiers 1 and 2 get the cuddles of death?" Tony grumped.

"Because the Beast sees you as a Hatchling." Jalan stated, walking into the room. "This is not an insult, without that suit..." she pointed to Friday who had moved the suit into the room with them. "You are much more vulnerable, however the Children of the Clutch are not weak, they know how to fight and they will kill if they need to do so. You are a Child to him and he will protect you as fiercely as he does the others. The other two are seen as capable Betas, but he would not go out of his way to protect them."

"Oh... ouch..." Tony winced picturing a very unpleasant image. "Alright, so I'm a Child of the Clutch... huh, Pep always said I never seemed to grow up."

"Lady Pepper, is quite right, you may be an adult to your people, but mentally and emotionally you are still childish." Loki smiled. "I am as well."

"We noticed, I thought your dad snapped your neck a moment there!" Tony huffed.

"Jotun bones are thicker, heavier and stronger than an Aesir, it takes a great amount of force and strength to fracture a bone let alone break one." Loki told him. "The worse I felt was a mild case of whiplash, my head suddenly jarring like that only gave me a crink in the neck."

Thor released Steve and went to cuddle Loki, sniffing and purring, as Loki smiled and kissed his ear, making it twitch and Thor huff annoyed.

"Back on topic." Frigga smiled, "how do you get anything done?"

"Masters of Multitasking." Loki and Tony chimed together, give her twin bright smiles.

"I see." She nodded slowly.

"Since the Einherjar are sitting out side of our boarders, I can only assume that we will have a visit from Odin and soon." Loki sighed, huffing in annoyance. "His last few visits haven't been pleasant and I am pretty sure he will demand things we cannot give him."

"Indeed." Frigga sighed.

"Let Odin One-Eye try it..." Jalan growled out.

"You know, teasing the AllFather is not wise." Ryilia's voice startled everyone before an astral image of her appeared in the room. Loki smiled as Thor gave a rough bark of greeting.

"Mother!" Loki smiled. "How- what?"

"Astral." She smiled. "I wanted to tell you that you all need to be careful, Malekith has finally made his move and depending on what you do, Loki it could cost us a key player or two if the wrong moves are made."

"Lady Rhyg!?" Frigga gasped, quickly bowing low, as lowly as a servant to the woman.

"Frigga! It's been so long, you look as lovely as ever! And stop that! Seriously, I have told you time again, you don't have to bow to me, you dick of a husband does!" Ryilia giggled. "And you said my real name, not cool, love!"

"Forgive me..."

"I'm not mad!" Rhyg sighed, rolling her eyes as she looked around the room before looking at Jane. "Hmm, poor thing, you have the Aether in you, don't you? Well looks like we have to make a suicide play. Loki, don't fight what happens in the next three days, let it happen and keep your eyes open for the next play, we need to draw Malekith away from Asgard, take the Paths to Svartalfheim and let him extract the Aether from Jane, it will save her life, but it will also allow him the power to take over all."

"I don't understand-" Tony began but Frigga gasped.

"I see... I see..." She stated as she grabbed a hand held loom and began weaving, In moments she was done and after cutting it from the loom, it vanished as Rhyg smiled.

"Thank you for this. All of you rest. Tony, Steve, Bucky, I've got everyone already ready in Europe. I told Heimdall to be ready to pull you back to Earth and with the others. Because almost all Universe ending battles need to be fought on the one fucking realm where people are afraid of their own shadows..." She groaned and grumbled before frowning and hissing something. Outside a yelp was heard and Thor jumped up snarling in anger, moving off to deal with the threat. "Don't eat him whole! Bite off an arm!"

Loki rolled his eyes as a scream was heard and Thor's howl fading into the distance as he chased the poor fool.

"Alright, well good night, I have a few more people to set up and screw over. And please no one fell guilty for killing the old dick! I beg you, someone kill him!" With that Rhyg melted away.

"Your mom's blood thirsty."

"Like mother, like son." Loki shrugged, she just gave him the green light to cause a political revolution like Hel was he passing this up. "Alright bed, we need to look somewhat rested tomorrow..."

With that everyone left, Loki, Darcy and Jane cuddled up on the next in the sitting room, waiting for Thor to come back...


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Loki began his day before dawn, much like he normally does, gutting and cleaning the boar that Thor had brought home the night before. He waltzed about the kitchen, humming to himself, chopping, whipping and prepping everything he was planning for the morning meal. The sinful ambrosial smell of his cooking was lazily wafting into the air, waking the members of the Clutch as well as their guests. Thor himself was curled up in a corner, gnawing on the severed arm of their unwanted visitor from last night. Loki just grinned as he crushed herbs and spices before whipping them into the warmed honey and braising the slowly cooking boar meat.

By the time the sun was lazily poking her head up from her slumber, the whole of the Clutch was awake, setting the table and impatiently waiting for the meal worthy of Kings! Soon plates and platters were floating into the room, Loki and Thor carrying the last of them in their arms. Thor, having turned human and cleaned up to eat with his family, held the boar meat on the large serving platter while Loki set down tarts and fresh breads onto the table before turning to cut up the meat. After Thor set the platter in the open space at the center of the large table, they began to eat.

"Holy shit!" Darcy moaned. "Who taught you to cook!?"

"Mother." Loki stated, munching on his own stuffed roll and enjoying his egg omelet.

"Damn... if I wasn't already getting married to Pep and if Thor wouldn't gut me, I'd marry you..." Tony lamented, stuffing his cheeks with some tarts and the sweet spicy boar meat.

"You should teach Steve..." Bucky murmured as he ate.

"What!?" Steve growled, knowing that it was a jab at his poor cooking skills before and after the Super Soldier program.

"Steve, you can't even make a bowl of oatmeal without it trying to claw your face off." Bucky sighed.

"You are sleeping on the sofa!" Steve hissed and moved to sit with the children away from Bucky.

Loki giggled at their antics while Thor and Jalan contentedly devoured the raw cuts of the meat, Jalan chewing on a bone to suck out the marrow. Sooner than they wanted a thunderous knock came to the door and Loki sighed.

"Do not move, Thor. You will stay right there or so help me, I will freeze your cock to the floor." Loki growled out, placing a suddenly blue hand on his lover's arm and letting him feel the burning freeze of his natural body temp.

Thor's growl of disapproval was ignored however the large male did not disobey his beloved. After all, Loki would listen to his mother even if what she said sounded completely mad and pure nonsense. But it also gave them an excuse to get into the palace, see the Lady Eir and perhaps swipe a few of Idun's Apples while they were at it. Loki got up and went to the door, opening it before the man on the other side could knock again.

"We are in the middle of a meal, what is it?" He snapped out, the icy chips in his voice stabbing like little blades into the man who flinched minutely.

"I come in the name of his Majesty Odin AllFather."

"And I live with the Lady Frigga AllMother, what do I care for him?" Loki demanded.

"Insolent-" He began raising a hand to slap Loki, but then he froze in place, gulping as the deadly edges of two knives kissed his throat.

"You dare to raise your hand to a guest in my home?" Frigga's icy voice cooed in his ear. "I should think you were raised better, taught better. But it seems you were not... why should I not slit you throat here and now? Hmm?"

"The AllFather, comes! He wishes to speak with you, my lady Queen!" The man yelped, whimpers of fright bubbling from his throat.

"Oh... well that could have waited until after breakfast... Now my meal has gotten cold and I'm very upset. I haven't even eaten a third of it yet." She pouted and let him go.

The man, as soon as he was free from his former Queen's hold, took off running like the foulest beasts of Hel were on his heels.

"Hmm, that should give us at least 10 minutes to make ourselves presentable... alas I wished to have at least enjoyed my meal more..." Frigga sighed, making Loki chuckle.

"But we are to face the Ogre, how can one stomach anything with him coming?" Loki asked.

"Indeed. I wonder how I've eaten at all in the years before I had Thor..." She mused as they went inside, only to see Tony and Darcy standing on the stairs.

"Lady Frigga's Boss!" Darcy grinned.

"Thank you, I think?" Frigga looked to Loki who quickly chirped at her in AllSpeak what it meant and she nodded.

"Is everyone here a ninja? Or is it anyone who has Magic that can do that?" Tony wondered.

"We have no idea what you are talking about." The two magic users shrugged, looking at one another with smug grins.

"... I dislike you right now." Tony pouted.

"Do not fret, Man of Iron." Thor's appearance startled him and he grasped his chest around the core reactor.

"For the love- Damn it! I wanna be a badass ninja too!" Tony whined.

"Don't worry, Little Man," Jalan purred, walking into the hall. "I shall teach you..."

"I'm engaged!" Tony yelped trying to look at anything but the primarily naked woman.

"Ooh? She must be worthy of all the world for you to not want to play with me..." Jalan cooed.

"Jalan." Frigga's dark tone startled everyone. Frigga was not someone you wanted angered and even worse, you did not wish to see her jealous. "Come here, you stupid beast."

Jalan slinked up to her mate and yelped when Frigga punched her in the stomach, hard only to have her head grabbed by her braid and yanked into a vicious knee. She dropped where she was let go.

"Shall we get ready then?" She asked chipper and not at all bothered by the fact she crippled the Demoness with only two hits.

"The children and the others are leaving through the back to the caves as we speak." Thor tells her, heading for his mud room to get cleaned up for the day.

"The black breeches, Thor!" Jalan called after him around a hiss of pain.

"And the blood red tunic!" Frigga added.

Loki chuckled as he guided his Midgardian friends back to their rooms, knowing that Frigga was going to lay into Jalan again. He saw the steel edge in her eyes still, a look he was familiar with from his own mother whenever someone voiced a challenge her place and her right as his father's mate and wife. Many feel at her feet, broken and shamed, only two have never risen again. Not long after they had climbed the stairs did they hear Jalan's yelp of pain and Frigga's furious snarls of AllSpeak.

"She's scary." Tony stated.

"She is the Goddess of Marriage. She needs to be scary." Loki informed them. "She also speaks for the Norns and again, she needs to be scary."

"Well we're just glad she's on our side." Steve murmured, he and Bucky having come into the hall when Frigga had struck her mate. "I normally do not approve of domestic violence, but seeing as Thor has told us once, his mother is a War Goddess and his other mother is a Demoness. I'm sure this is just the kid friendly version of their fighting."

"Right!" Loki smiled. "Then again, we've never seen the more serious fights... Thor usually orders everyone out of the mansion before they even start. I get the feeling those fights usually result in... well..." He blushed.

Darcy crowed with laughter as Tony gave a pervy giggle. Steve looked scandalized and Bucky just huffed in amusement.

"Even gods have angry sex... nice."

"Bucky!" Steve gaped in horror.

"Come, we do not have much time..." Loki huffed, shoving them all into his room and quickly walking over to the wardrobe to fish out a few things which he then used his magic to adjust and alter before handing them out to the four Midgardians and ushering them one at a time into the bathroom to get dressed.

As they went, Loki waved his hand over his body, his sleep clothes vanishing as the outfit Frigga had made for him took their place. He used his magic to shorten his hair once more before he turned to the others who were done. He nodded at them as Darcy looked confused about what to do with her hair. Loki quickly sat her at his vanity and took of his comb, detangling her hair quickly before he broke it up into three sections. The lower half of her hair was left lose while he took small hair ties and tied each of the top sections away from one another before taking another tie and binding them together where he then took the single ponytail and split it once more into two before carefully curling the hair up, wrapping around the first sections and back down, binding the ends once more into a ponytail. Stepping back he smiled at the pretty little heart he made in Darcy's hair, conjuring a mirror to show her the back through the mirror in front of her.

"Oh wow... you have to teach me how to make that!" Darcy gasped, liking it a lot.

"Thank you, Lady Darcy." he smiled. "Lady Frigga should have gotten Lady Jane ready by now. Come..."

They all stepped out of the room and headed downstairs where Frigga stood with Jane. Jane was dressed in a toga like dress made from a lovely blue material with a bronze half breast plate fastened around her chest. The left side unguarded with a long sleeve that fell to where the matching arm guards were wrapped around her arms. She had on leather boots that had bronze grieves attached to them and Loki spied the hilt of a dagger hidden in the folds of her skirt. Her hair was left out, curled delicately to give her a gentle, but regal look.

Frigga herself wore a similar dress, though hers was a lighter blue and she had a full breast plate on in mythrill. Loki spied the dull gray the under armor Frigga normally wore, her mythrill bracers over the long sleeves of the under armor. She had a long silk scarf wrapped loosely over her shoulders, her short sword sheathed at her left hip and her long dagger on her right hip. He was sure her boots were a durable leather with matching mythrill grieves to protect her legs. Her hair was picked up in its usual style of tightly woven curls pinned into place with a single lock of hair trailing down her back.

Jalan stood behind her, though the liquid gold that normally traveled around her body was now morphed into a golden meshing of scales and armor that covered her whole body, her hair even had golden spikes sticking out of her braid while on her head, her golden horns stood large, proud and deadly.

"Oh, Loki, they look wonderful! Jotun designs?" Frigga asked, smiling in approval of the outfits Loki had quickly made for the mortals.

"A mix, actually... Jotun and Midgardian fusion." Loki told her proudly.

The boys wore the same style of clothing, thick leather breeches, laced and cinched to protect as much of their flesh as possible, but still giving them plenty of room to move around or bend. Boots that stopped mid calf, made of padded felt rather than leather with a thick padded tunic that hugged their bodies just as much as the pants did and over those there was the golden Jotun battler armor.

The back of the chest guard covered their whole back while the front of the chest guard protected their necks, the clavical and the start of the breast bone, leaving the sternum exposed as well as the belly, however the golden armor rand down their ribs and came together just above the hips. Golden bracers and two part grieves covered their arms and lower legs while gold and thick leather shoulder guards protected the upper arms. Each male had a head guard that protected the sides and the back of their skulls. The armor had runes etched into them that no one but the Jotun prince could read or even guess at what they meant.

Darcy on the other was dress in a velvet gown that hugged her body like a glove, leaving only her left leg exposed to show the boots she had on with the same grieves as the men, though the armor wrapped about her was all silver. She didn't have bracers, however her chest guard covered her breasts and exposed only her belly while the neck guard was closer to her skin. Most would think it would keep her head stuck in one spot, but it moved with any motion of her head. The neck guard also formed a head guard around the sides and the back of her head, but unlike the boys, the front curved up over her forehead in a pair of deadly spike like horns.

"Is it a bit dangerous to have our stomachs exposed?" Tony wondered.

"The armor is designed so even our pregnant half of the race can fight as well." Loki gave a careless shrug, like it was perfectly normal to send a pregnant person in battle.

"What!?" Steve and Bucky shouted. "Are you all insane!?"

"The Jotuns are a warrior race, everyone fights, even their children fight because if you do not fight, you die. It's simply the harsh truth and reality they live in. However the armors are enchanted, correct?" Frigga asked.

"Yes, the ruins activate the moment anything dangerous gets within 15 feet of you, armor made of near impenetrable ice armor covers any part of you that is exposed. This is only a fail safe because Jotuns are able to manipulate the ice and snow and make armor or weapons at will." Loki informed them. "However since we lost the last war and have been slowly but surely dying off, we've stopped making armor and weapons to make tools and machines to help us harvest what we can, grow what we can so we may live on."

Jane felt sick, just thinking about how bad things had to be for Loki and his people to send even children and their pregnant partners into battle. Steve and Bucky apologized, but Loki waved it off, not at all offended. Darcy just grinned as she told him she thought that his Badassary levels just reached a new high. Tony didn't comment at all, still kind of shell shocked that Loki had given them armor that has served his people well in the past and by the looks of the designs, for many years. The armor was unyeilding to touch, but as he and the others moved, he saw that it was either designed to move with the body or it was infused with magic to make it move and bend so the one inside of it did not have to limit their range or be left unable to move at all. Though he wondered why Darcy got the horns and not them.

"Why does Darcy have horns?" Jane asked.

"Shield Sister." Loki stated. "Shield Brothers carry the finest swords and spears our Smithies could make, with gems and crystal cores that amplify magic or cast spells for non magic users. However I doubt showing up decked out completely for battle will go over well."

"Oh... so do I get one?" Jane asked, recalling that Loki said that she and Darcy were his Shield Sisters.

"Yes." He nodded and waved his hand and a matching silver neck guard and head guard wove its way around her. "There, the horns are for those who do not grow a pair or have lost theirs in battle. Not all Frost Giants grow horns."

"I see. So if we were born Jotuns, we'd have horns?" Tony asked him.

"Yes. All warriors in the army have horns, a natural weapon and very deadly one seeing as they are made of solid bone." Loki smiled brightly. "Harder and denser than our bones really. It is one of the reasons we angle our heads so strangely or hold our heads so high."

He mimicked how the warriors often stood, head tilted up high and slightly back or angling his neck forward, but keeping his head up, it was not the most comfortable position, however it worked when you had a very heavy head. Standing up straight, he breathed a spell and his own armor appeared around him, but unlike the Midgardians, his was made of some strange black material. Though his was much more connected in places and covered a little more than theirs did. Bucky noted that the head guard around Loki's head didn't have horns on it.

"I guess you have horns..." He spoke up.

"Yes. It was a great shock when I began to complain of headaches and would get very itchy in the back of my neck to the point I would almost gouge out skin. And then one day I did and panicked when I felt something hard and strange. I ran to my father and cried in fright for hours until he managed to finally calm me and tell me not to fear for I was growing my horns. He said I was like Fárbauti, growing my horns from the back of my head rather than the sides or the front like the warriors. It why my head guard is not adorned with horns and does not wrap around my head quite the same." Loki told them.

"That must have been scary." Steve looked worried.

"It was... but then father told me that all Jotuns born with powerful magic grew their horns, if they grew them at all, from the back of their heads. He told me it was the body's natural defense for protecting our heads, our brains. Mages are vastly intelligent; a blow to the head could be very deadly no matter who you are, our horns cover the majority of heads to protect us not only from death, but to keep us from suffering memory loss if we do take a blow to the head." Loki shrugged it off. "I guess you did not see me very well during the battle of New York, my horns were on full display then. I normally magic them invisible to make others think I really am a runt, weak and worthless."

"Fascinating." Frigga grinned. "However I believe we are now late to our meeting."

"Jotun Royalty is never late, the others are simply early." Loki sniffed primly.

Frigga grinned as Thor walked into the room then, grinning as he finished clasping his cape around his shoulders. The deep blue material looking like early night just before the sun sets completely. He was rather plain compared to everyone else, however Thor did not need armor, he was more than capable of protecting himself. The red tunic seemed to fight his frame like a glove and his breeches looked to be painted onto him. Loki felt his cheeks flush as his quim moistened. Jalan and Thor sniffed the air and looked at him, his cheeks enflaming even more.

"Oh my..." Frigga gasped, blushing only slightly before she cleared her throat and began to usher them out the door. Outside stood Sif, Hogun, Voltstagg and Frandral all in full regalia. They bowed to their leaders and took up potion behind them, though everyone was more than capable of protecting themselves.

Tony had his Iron Man suit with him, it was in briefcase mode while Steve had his shield strapped to his back and Bucky had more than a few guns and knives on his person, he even donned his Winter Soldier mask, which coupled with the outfit and armor gave him an even more menacing look. Darcy much like Jane had a dagger hidden in one of her bracers. Loki had a pouch of gems, his daggers and a few other knives hidden on him not to mention his other magics and if needed he could adopt his natural form and use that to his advantage in a fight. Thor had Mjolnir hooked to his belt, a knife of his own but nothing else. The others carried their weapons more obviously or were considered a living weapon.

Soon enough they were walking into Lilithorn and waiting for them at the fountain was Odin AllFather and he did not look pleased to be kept waiting. Frigga chuckled lowly as she and Jalan kept walking forward as the others stayed behind. Loki stood between Jane and Darcy, ready to grab them and flee if he needed to while Thor stood before them with Hogun and Sif on either side of him. Frandral and Voltstagg remained in the back while Tony, Steve and Bucky stood behind Loki and the girls, each ready to react.

"Wife." Odin greeted.

"I have not been your wife in over a millenia and a half!" She snapped out, already irritated with him cutting her morning meal short, especially since Loki had been the one to cook this morning! "Last I recall, you let me leave... didn't bother to come after me, not even to see your son! And when we finally hear from you, see you; its to demand that I tell you who stole into your vaults and made off with a treasure that was never meant for you! And even then you practically demand that place the blame on already dying people, just so you can finish your genocide!"

"You know nothing, woman! They started each war!"

"Oh?" Loki asked, stepping away from Darcy and Jane, Thor stepping back to guard them, though he seemed to be tensing, a low subsonic growl building in his throat. "The first war was shortly after the fall of the Dark Elves, King Bor beat back the rebellion and allowed our people to live in peace, only demanding gems and weapons from us. The Second war was started by a battalion of Aesir, who attacked and killed an Envoy of Jotuns who were on Midgard for peace proceedings! Peace proceedings heralded by my Mother!"

"Daft boy, you are clearly Aesir, do you feel such sympathy for monsters who, if given the chance, will steal into your home and slay you as you sleep?!"

Loki sneered and let his Jotun flesh melt into being. The Einherjar grabbed their weapons and aimed them at Loki who snorted, hands held out in a 'look upon me and be amazed' gesture. He then turned back to his friends and did the same.

"Do I look like a monster to you?" he asked the Midgardians clearly. "You, the one with the light in his chest." He called, pretending not to know them.

"You look like Smurf to me..." Tony snorted.

"What's a Smurf?" Bucky wondered.

"I'll show you when you when we get home." Steve promised. "Sam got me the TV box set."

"Lady Frigga, am I a monster?" Loki asked her next.

"No, my dear. You are anything but a monster. I should know I sleep with one every night."

Jalan grinned menacingly at that, purring with delight.

"Civip Kethend, if you are monster then I am the AllFather." Jalan cackled out.

"How dare you!" Odin bellowed.

"We dare, Ogre... oh how we dare..." Jalan growled out lowly. "We dare because we have nothing to fear, not your pile of fool's gold nor your fairy conjurers and most certainly not you..."

"Lady Jalan is correct... we dare. I dare because I did not invade a realm and kill innocents. Pregnant carriers and defenseless Frostlings. I did not rape and pillage and I did not murder the King's Consort in cold blood... No, I dare because I have lost so much before I even drew breathe the first time." Loki snarled around his fangs. "I also dare because my mother dares!"

"You know nothing, boy!"

"I am no boy!" Loki bellowed back, standing tall and proud, removing the cloaking spells upon his horns, displaying the deadly sharp bones, decorated in golden rings and chains, pearls of mythrill and nephrite dangling from the rings. "I am Loki of Jotunheim. And I am burdened with a glorious purpose. You will cower before me by the end... This I promise and this I will make happen, Odin the Butcher."

Odin flinched back, the boy was dressed and decorated almost exactly like the Jeweled Sorcerer Fárbauti, only much smaller, prettier looking, but also that much more deadlier. The boy snarled a hiss that made his Einherjar flinch back as he stepped forward.

"You took from us the Casket, the center fold of the natural Knot of magic that surrounds my realm! Without it, the weather grows steadily unstable! Crops do not grow, what does yield hardly feeds more than three quarters of my people! Our land is growing weaker, we're trapped in our settlements because we cannot travel to one another without meeting gruesome ends! Fewer and fewer Frostlings are being born! Soon we will not be able to have any children at all and then we will truly die! You have damned us! You have killed us! All for a precieved slight!?"

"No one of the other 8 realms was to ever set foot upon Midgard! Your people broke that rule!"

"And yet the Aesir have long since been abusing that rule before my people dared to do so." Loki stated calmly. "We have detailed records of our visits, Ogre. The Midgardians the area in which we had visited often had many statues and temples dedicated to you and the Valkyries, Lady Frigga and many more! They had adopted much of your culture, training to be great warriors and living the ways the Einherjar, hoping that at the end of their lives they may be allowed into Valhalla. So of course, my people broke the rule that had long since been abandoned."

"You-"

"My mother offered herself up to my father for peace, did you know that? A lowly mortal woman living on a realm that was inhospitable to its own people? Surely she'd die within mere minutes, and yet my mother was such a powerful Mage, she not only lived, she even birthed the third Prince to the throne of Jotunheim, ruled beside its King when the King's Consort was slain, raised two Frostlings not her own! But she was a mortal woman... insignificant and easily forgotten if you had been the one to take her for wife and mother of your children... but a crime worthy of Genocide should another realm dare do so..." Loki spat out, his red on red eyes glowing brightly with his magic.

"Insolent brat!" Odin bellowed out, aiming Gungnir at Loki and firing.

"Loki!" Several people screamed, but gasped when a mass of red and black matter absorbed the blast.

Everyone gasped as Jane suddenly collapsed into Loki's arms, the Jotun panicking when he saw how pale she had become, practically gray! He only breathed easier when he felt a pulse and the mortal woman weakly smiled at him.

"Foolish, I could have protected my self..." Loki scolded her.

"... Couldn't... couldn't let... Thor... go... go berserk... You need him calm... right? I feel so weak..."

"The Aether took a lot from you..." He whispered to her. "You've also alerted the Dark Elves to where you are hidden."

"Good... Let the... the dick fight them..." She smirked before fainting.

Loki carefully picked her up and was met with the spears of the Einherjar as the Warriors 3 and Sif were holding Thor back. Loki looked at his beloved and Thor reluctantly settled down. Frigga was also surrounded, Jalan was holding her side where she was stabbed by Gungnir. It seemed that when Jane had came to protect Loki, everyone reacted at once. However, Loki couldn't help but think that this was all part of a plan.

"Be calm... all is well." Loki told Thor, but was directing his words to the others. "We will be fine... the Norns know what they want."

Thor blinked and stood tall behind him Tony and Steve relaxed only slightly. Everyone who had been there when Rye had spoken to them that night around the camp fire, they knew that this is what she meant. This had to happen and based off of what Loki did next, they my or may not lose a couple of key people who could help them win this war.

"Surrendering, Jotun?" Odin sneered.

"I will not risk the life of my Shield Sister." He held his chin high and defiant. "Besides, you will place me in a prison cell, use me as a bargening chip against my father and our people and you will try and learn all the secrets that I know, secrets that would make you more powerful, more repected, more feared..."

"Good to know you are not stupid..." Odin spat.

"Your face is stupid." Loki sniped back.

Darcy giggled then, she and Tony high fiving because yes, Loki was the master of snark and sass.

"You little bastard-"

"My mother was married to my father long before she pushed me out of her." Loki huffed, offended. "And don't even think about saying it is impossible because I can conjure up the memory she shared with me. Did you know that once a woman gives birth for the first time, her hips are permanently dislocated from before she became pregnant? It makes pregnancies and childbirth much easier after!"

Odin looked green in the face while Frigga looked down at her own hips with a curious gaze.

"Enough!"

"Nope!" Loki giggled.

"I will smack you-"

"Touch me and I'll rip out your other eye and shove it up your arse!" Loki snarled.

Odin bellowed and shot a spell at Loki, it hit him right in the head, knocking him out, Jane falling from his arms, but thankfully a couple of Einherjar warriors caught them both.

"I am taking them, either you try and fight us here and now and die, or you go on about your lives and forget them."

"How about I kick you in your shriveled grapes?" Darcy growled, pissed now.

"Darcy! Stand down!" Frigga ordered. "If you want my aid, Odin, you will leave them be, never set foot in this village ever again and forget we ever lived here. Only then will I help you."

"Done..." He nodded and turned to leave, waving for his warriors to do the same. "Such a disappointment, our son would have been a fine warrior..."

"What makes you think he is not?" She snarled darkly, a deadly edge in her eyes as she was led away...


	23. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Waking up from a spell blast was oddly not how many discribed it. It wasn't slow and agonizing, nor was it in stages of waking from a dream. One moment he was unconscious, the next his eyes snapped open and he looked up at the glowing white ceiling of his cell. Sitting up, he noticed one solid wall to his back and three clear walls of magic barriers filling the others. The gentle thrumming gold spell work showing him that there was indeed a wall. The cell beside him was occupied by some lowly urchins, the ones across from him full of brigands and bandits. One stood out to him, his glowing blue eyes focused on him.

Loki ignored him for now, noting that his cell was actually comfy. He was laying on a lounge, thick fur blankets sat at one end, a few fluffy pillows supported his head and back. There was a table with fruit and a decantor of water, another small table had a basin and a cloth to clean himself with and a folding divider to give him privacy. There was quills, ink wells and stacks of parchment as well as colored coal sticks to draw with. A nice pile of books to read from and a small chest with clothes.

"Personally I do not think you deserve any of this..." Odin's voice suddenly spoke up.

"However, I am a royal prisoner... If you want to gain whatever it is you want from my people, I need to be in good health and not abused." Loki smirked. "I thank you for making an effort to keep me entertained... I become quite destructive when I am bored."

Odin sneered and stomped away as an astral image of Frigga walked up behind Loki, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"He's foolish." She stated.

"Please, you insult fools all over the realms and beyond, he does not even have a brain." Loki sniffed.

She giggled and he turned to face her.

"Are you well?"

"Indeed I am, Lady Eir is looking over young Jane as we speak, her vitals are dropping at an alarming rate." Frigga worried.

"She is a strong woman, she will live a few more days..." Loki assured, even as he looked worriedly off to the side. "Please inform if there are any changes."

"Of course, my son." She smiled and faded when he swiped his hand through her.

He looked at the others and snarled loudly, chuckling when they all flinched away or yelped in fright. He grabbed a book, sitting on his lounge, he began to read. Mind working out all the possibilities of what could go right and what could go wrong...

Odin walked into the healing chambers where Eir was working at her Soul Board, examining the Midgardian woman, who seemed intent of pestering and poking things she should leave well enough alone. Frigga chuckled as she watched the young woman, amused by her child like curiosity and glee. He came to stand beside his wife, placing his hand on the small of her back, but she slapped it away and gave him a cold glare that dared him to touch her again. He noted that her hand went to her dagger, secure at her hip at all times.

"Wife, come now-"

"I am not your wife, have not been since Thor was but a newly born babe." She cut him off, her grip tightening on her dagger. "And do not think that I did not notice you going off to pester Loki. I will only tell you this once: Leave the boy be, he has do nothing wrong to you or to anyone."

"He is a Jotun, they are liars and monsters! He has you bewitched into thinking he is harmless, that he is innocent-"

"Come now, Odin. Surely you know that it is impossible to bewitch a Master?" She purred, a gentle swirl of magic becoming visible as it danced about her in a hypnotic dance that belied the deadliness of her powers and her skills. "It is near impossible to out lie a liar after all..."

Odin frowned, gritting his teeth as he turned to Eir, who was yet again, slapping Jane's hands away from her Soul Board.

"Anything?"

"Besides, the foolish girl insisting that this is a 'Quantum Field Generator'? She is the host for the Aether, it is slowly killing her. However every time she uses it, it weakens her faster, kills her faster. There is no possible way to extract it from her currently without killing her. If there is a way, only the Dark Elves know of it." Eir stated.

"Then extract it from her." Odin ordered.

"What!?" All three women shouted in shock, Jane rolling her self off the soul board, hiding behind it as she peaked over the top. Eir's concentration broken, made the astral magic dissipate as Frigga pulled her dagger out and took position before Jane, blade aimed at her former husband.

"We are not killing her!" Frigga bellowed out. "How dare you suggest we even consider it!"

"The Aether is killing her, she will not live but a few more days at best. Why prolong her suffering? What I am suggesting is merely a mercy." he sounded offended that they did not come to such a logical conclusion.

"Yeah, no. I am not dying one way or the other, buddy!" Jane hissed. "I would like to be an old Grandma before I finally kick the bucket!"

"Why would you wish to kick a pail as an old woman? Your bones would be too brittle and you could easily break your foot." Eir wondered.

"OMG... You are so cute with how you all take things literal!" Jane just flailed in a moment, unsure she should hug the woman for her adorableness or face palm and wonder what the hell was wrong with these people. "It is an expression one uses to imply dying. By kicking the bucket, I am dumping the contents of it on the ground. In terms of life and death, I am kicking the bucket over to empty it of my life and thus greeting Death."

"Strange, but oddly apporpiate." Eir mused.

"If the Aether remains within you, you will not get to be come an old woman." Odin stated.

"And I don't plan on letting you kill me so I can look good for my funeral!" Jane hissed. "What the fucking hell is wrong with you!? If our roles where reversed and you were the one slowly dying because you had the Aether in you, and I suggested we kill you instead of trying to find another way to extract the shit without killing you, how would you react!?"

"I'd accept my duty to my people and make the sacrifice willingly. Which you should do and should feel honored to give your life for the lives of millions more." Odin glared at her.

"Well guess what, asshole! I AM SELFISH!" Jane bellowed out, bolting out of the room. Frigga glared at Odin, spitting in his face, before turning on heel and racing after Jane, least she get into trouble.

Eir looked at her King and said noting as she began cleaning up her hospital wing, getting her assistants to gather all the herbs, pastes and bandages they could find.

"What are you doing?"

"The Dark Elves would have sensed the Aether's presence long before you brough the girl to me. They will be arriving soon enough and then it will be all out war. I am not waiting for the battle to already being in full swing to get ready for the unending flood of injured and dying that will soon be coming through my doors. Instead of trying to kill one girl, why not plan to kill the Dark Elves. You are, after all an expert on Genocide."

Odin glared at the woman, who had the gall to speak to him so and to even look him in the eye as she said what she did. Snarling he stormed out of the hospital wing, summoning his war council. After all war was coming one way or another. The Midgardian woman was foolish to not accept a merciful death...

Jane will forever wonder how she managed to make her way through the maze like halls of the Golden Palace and into the city of Asgard, however she could not make herself give three fucks and a duck about it. She ran and got herself nice and lost in the city and came to a stop on a balcony like deck with stairs leading down into a lower market area.

Leaning on the railing she caught her breath, the breast guard and other paddings making it a little painful to breathe. She felt a bit dizzy from the lack of air but at the same time she didn't feel nearly as weak and sickly as she had been feeling before. She looked up after she got the stitch in her side to ease enough to let her move into a standing position and she blinked when a familiar calloused hand was before her face, holding a waterskin.

"Drink, Lady Jane." Thor's low voice rumbled out from her right.

She looked at him and smiled as he chuckled, setting the bag in her hands. She brought the nozzle to her lips and took a long gulp of good, clean, ice cold water. She sighed in pleasure as she took another gulp before handing him the bag back.

"Thank you..." She whispered.

"You are welcome. Mother." He greeted his mother, who seemed to materialize from the crowd like an apperition made of gold, bronze and blue. He handed her the waterskin next and she took it gratefully as she took a long swing as well. "What has happened?"

"Loki's been imprisoned, however because of his status as a prince, he's allowed certain accommodations that others are denied. Odin plans to ransom him back to his people, but not before learning all he can from him first. He's sniffing for blood, looking for weakness."

"He won't find one. Loki's too closed off and yet too open for anyone to find a chip in his armor." Jane mused, laughing softly. "I bet he'd invite you to find a 'weakness' to lure you into a false sense of security and then he will take you down."

"Indeed." Thor chuckled out, leaning on the railing and looking over the busy market place. "So this is the Golden City... Mindless sheep, completely complacent and unaware." Thor growled, watching the people go about their days, unaware of the war heading their way.

"Yes, for a race who prides itself on always be prepared for war, they seem to indulge themselves and become lazy as time wares on... Odin suggested we kill Young Jane..." Frigga informed her son, watching as he bared his teeth in a silent snarl from the corner of her eye. "He called it a mercy killing... However I know when extracting powerful magics possessing a host, it is anything but painless and to kill the host before extracting the power, causes said power to rapidly weaken or to vanish all together."

"So even if you agreed to let it happen, I'd die a horrible death anyway? No thank you." Jane scoffed.

"Eir also says that each time Young Jane uses the Aether, or the Aether manifests to protect the host, it weakens her faster, kills her that much quicker. She has only but a few days now."

"Plenty of time." Thor assured. "They know she is here, they will come soon."

"And the plan is what?"

"Let them come, invade and have their numbers cut down considerably while we rescue Loki and escape through a natural path to another realm, preferably to Svartalfheim. There we can battle it out and not risk any more lives than need be. However it is what Loki much do that worries me." Thor shrugged, carelessly so as he spotted Voltstagg and Sif in a bar as Frandral was flirting with some local beauties. Hogun and Bucky were in the smithy hut down the lane, Tony was being cooed over by some local mothers, who thought him a young boy, not a grown man as Steve was blushing at the few women flirting with him. Darcy was busy on her laptop, doing only Loki's mother knew what on it.

"We should have faith in Loki and in his mother. She has helped us more than anyone realizes." Frigga soothed.

"We do have faith, Lady Frigga, however, it does not mean we aren't worried still." Jane told her.

She nodded, she understood that, she herself was wary of what was to come within the next few days, but the best they could all do was prepare...

Loki set his book to the side when Frigga's Astral appearance suddenly appeared beside him. He smiled softly as she looked about his comfy cage.

"At least you are not terribly bored." She mused. "Can I perhaps bring you some new books, maybe some cloth and thread? Thor tells me you have skill in the art of the loom and have not found a cloth you could not turn into a masterpiece."

"He is exaggerating, however I would not mind something to keep my hands busy other than writing or even painting." He nodded. "And books are always a welcome."

She giggled and allowed his feet to turn Jotun blue and to freeze his cell floors and create frost upon the window like walls of his prison. Once they were obscured, he turned to her and handed her the few sheets of parchment he wrote out his thoughts, the possibilities and alternatives that could within the next couple of days.

"I will keep the Lady Jane with me in my chambers. When the Elves come, or should they be here now, tell them to go up the stairs on the left of the prison, they are the service stairs and will lead them up toward my suites. The Lady Jane they see will be an Astral, I will fight them off. This should give Thor plenty of time to come rescue you and the three of you to escape."

"But should you be felled?" Loki worried.

"I would have fell with honor. There is no greater Honor than defending one's children to the death." She stated fiercely.

He frowned, he did not like that, but he nodded his head. She smiled and as the frost melted away, she faded away. He grabbed his bracelet, rubbing his fingers over the jewels, eyes dancing about as his thoughts moved just as fast. And then he focused on the cell across from him. The prisoner with the bright almost glowing blue eyes was staring at him still. He blinked slowly, a smirk slowly growing on his lips.

"Let's play a game..." he breathed out, the other prisoners looking at him in confusion. "Whoever gets out of their cell first has to either go right or left... One both directions lead to death, however only one death will be honorable, the other honorless... it is up to you which one you want. And if you somehow escape your death, know that no one escapes Death for long..."

"You're crazy!" One person shouted.

"Why should we listen to a Jotun!?" Another growled.

"Hmm, who's living in comfort?" Loki mocked, gesturing about his cell. "Who gets three full meals a day and drinks mead instead of moldy bread every other day and murky water? Certainly it is none of you... I hold favor with the Queen... And I am bored, so tell me which way will you go?"

"Why riddle us?" another asked. "Do you plan to escape?"

"Maybe I do... maybe I do not..." He shrugged, lazily, walking over to the small table and making a show of selecting an apple and biting into it with relish. "I could escape from here at any moment, but what fun would that be? It's more entertaining watching you fools attempt to flee."

"Bitch!"

"I am not a canine." Loki glared at the fool who said it, laughing when he yelped in fright as he noted the blue eyed being looming over him, digging in his side pouch-

Wait.

They strip prisoners of all personal belongings minus the clothes on their back. It wasn't a side pouch! It was in his flesh! Loki watched as the being pulled out what looked like a gernade and active it.

"Shit!" One of the prisoners in the cell with him cried as he and the others attempted to hug either a corner or a wall, banging on the walls to either get free or attention.

In the next second everyone minus the being with glowing blue eyes was killed, the walls of the prison shattered. Guards began flooding the hall as all cells, minus Loki's which was set to maxium power, relaeased their prisoners. All of them fleeing to the right. Loki watched them fight and drag the fight to his right. He looked at the being with those glowing eyes as he casually walked up to the prison wall and punched it. Loki only snorted, a smirk dancing on his lips, his Astral image having gone to warn Frigga of her impending company.

"Go left." He waved him to side of the prison where no one had ventured, too busy trying to escape through the main doors on the right. "Take them all the way up."

The being, which Loki was now sure of being a Dark Elf, left without a word, moving backwards, eyes never leaving the imprisoned Jotun Prince until he was gone into the depths of the stairs. Loki sighed, sitting down as he waited. He much like his mother hated waiting when there was some fun to be had...

Frigga walked out of her side room, Jane behind her as the alarm blared over the city, ships flying in and destroying the main city of Asgard. Ground troops invading the Palace and all of the Einherjar were focused on fighting in the main halls rather than searching for other inflitration groups. The Prisoner was standing behind a maskless Elf, his white hair and glowing eyes, not to mention the fancier armor he wore, marked him as the leader.

"Malekith..." She said in way of greeting.

"Queen Frigga... I do not wish to fight with you, I only want the woman." He stated, holding out his hand.

Frigga had her long dagger in her right hand, her short sword in Jane's hands. Jane may not know much about fighting, but she played enough softball to know the basics of swinging a sword.

"You cannot have her, she is a daughter to me and I will defend my children." She stated. "To the death if needed."

"I have no quirrel with you, I just want what belongs to me. The child has it." He informed her, moving towards the queen as she moved to the open part of her greeting chamber. "Let us not fight and shed more blood than needed."

He took a step closer, moving around Frigga, but he stumbled back, hand going to his cheek, stopping the blood from flowing down the the new scar upon his face. Frigga had moved faster than a viper, her dagger slicing into Malekith's cheek.

"You wish harm to my children, you are attacking my city and as Queen, all of Asgard is my child. I will fight you and I will kill you..." She promised.

Malekith dodged the spinning flashes of the Queen's blade. Silver blue light of Vanir magic enhanced the blade. She swung for his neck with a lunge forward, droppint to one knee while aiming for his thigh. Spinning to her other knee, she tried to cut his calf, climbing to her feet in another spin, her blade flashing three times, once at the belly, another at the chest the last at the neck. He stumbled into a pillar and she pinned him. However in the midst of the fight, she for got about the other male with him.

"You failed, your majesty." Malekith chuckled as Frigga turned to see the other Dark Elf grab Jane, only for her to break up into green mist.

"Have I?" She cooed, dodging the both of them as they tried to attack her, two on one. They backed her onto her balcony and for a moment it looked like they had her, but then Thor's roar and Mjolnir smashing into Malekith's side distracted them. Thor backhanded the other Elf away from his mother, grabbing her and jumping from the balcony, summoning his Iron Lady to him and flying them off to safety.

"I want the Aether!" Malekith roared in rage.

"My lord... The Jotun Princess is in the cells down below..."

"Very good, Barca... Come..." Malekith ordered, Barca leading them back down to the dungeons.

They walked to the cell where Loki was sitting, reading a book.

"Princess, you look beautiful..." Malekith purred, looking the Jotun up and down, admiring the Aesir flesh and cloth wrapped around the delicate royal's body.

"Back so soon?" Loki asked Barca.

"Your protector is dead..." Malekith told him, wondering if Loki would catch the lie or believe him.

"You lie..." Loki glared at him, standing up as his flesh melted away to Jotun blue, his magic lashing out and obliterating the items within his cell. "Never try to out lie a liar, it was the first thing my mother taught me... You killed her."

"She killed herself. Bit off her tongue and died..." Malekith shrugged. "If she had simply told me what I wanted to know, she would still be here and you would be allowed to visit her, once you birthed me an heir that is..."

"You will never tough me, Murderer." Loki growled out, hands held out to his sides, summoning two balls of ice.

Barca stepped forward, removing the crystals that activated the prison walls from their respective slots and stepped into the cell. Loki shot the balls at him, one missing and smashing into a wall, exploding into deadly spikes of ice as the other was smacked away. Loki backed away, summoning a spear of ice to fight with when Barca grabbed him, only to gasp when the Astral image of him vanished, smirking at them.

"Fools..." it laughed as it faded completely.

"DAMN IT!" Malekith's roar of rage filled the hall as he and Barca stormed back into the main palace searching for Loki and Jane...

Loki walked with Hogun and Sif, randomly spelling them into various people to get passed the Einherjar until the got to a downed Dark Elf ship. Thor and Jane appeared around a pillar, both looking a little worse for wear.

"Thank you, my friends." Thor nodded to them, taking his mate's hand in his and pulling him along.

"You be careful, little brother." Sif ordered.

"Will do."

"Loki..." Hogun called handing him his dagger and knife.

"Thank you... Lord Stark, Lord Rogers, Lord Barnes..." Loki smiled when he and the other too stepped onto the ship.

"Hi!" Tony grinned, dressed in his Iron Man suit. "You guys sure know how to throw a party!"

"Indeed." Thor chuckled, moving the consul and began pushing random buttons.

Nothing happened.

"Did you remove the parking break?" Loki asked Thor.

"That is not funny, Loki."

"Oh yes it was! Admit it!" Loki giggled, as Thor kept pressing buttons. Loki waved to the large one as he said. "How about this one? Did you press- Press it, Thor! Not smash it! No wonder you were never taught to fly anything..."

The ship finally moved, slowly spinning in place, breaking down multiple pillars before flying out the main palace doors.

"I think you missed one." Loki stated drily.

"Loki, if you do not shut up, I will shove you out of this thing!" Thor growled annoyed.

"Don't you even think about it!" Loki gasped.

"Guys! Stop fighting! We got company and it isn't Dark Elves!" Jane cried.

"Does this thing have guns?" Bucky asked.

Thor pressed a few more buttons, growling when nothing seemed to work.

"Umm, I think the steering is broken..." Tony murmured, rolling a ball in that seemed to be the steering controls, or rather a part of them.

"Looks like we are gonna have to jump..." Steve sighed.

"I-" Jane started to protest but fainted. Loki didn't look the least bit worried as Thor left the controls to see if she was alright.

"I'm... I'm fine..." she whispered, looking dazed.

"Loki?" Steve asked watching Loki press a few things and pull a lever.

"Time to jump." Loki stated.

"Cap, Buck, grab hold!" Tony ordered the other two as he jumped up flying them away from the ship so Thor and Loki and jump out.

"I got Jane..." Thor grumbled, shoving Loki out of the door and jumping out, both landing on a smaller cruise ship being driven by Frandral, Darcy waving at them happily as the other three landed with them.

"Did you have to shove me out?" Loki groused, though he was grinning, amused.

"I did warn you I would."

They watched the large ship spin around and attack the small fleet of ships that were on their tail, a few who were smart enough to spot their cruiser gave chase still and Frandral waved them farewell before he jumped ship, taking out the other two as Loki took the controls.

"Natural Path?" Thor asked as Loki began guiding them somewhere.

"A Secret one..."

"How do you know where it is and why not use it much sooner?" Bucky groused.

"If everyone knew about it, it wouldn't be a secret and I know where it is because it feels like my mother..." Loki grinned as they came close to a rock face, before they could smash into it, they were engulfed in dark light and spat out into an utter barren wasteland. The ship sadly lost power, the Natural magic overloaded and fried the cruiser controls.

They crash landed into a dune and after complaining about Loki's driving skills, they climbed out of it and looked about. Loki led the way, grinning darkly as he waved his hands out.

"Welcome, my friends, to Svartalfheim..."


	24. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

"Shit... she wasn't kidding about the utter lack of life..." Tony whispered.

Bucky nodded along as Steve grabbed a handful of dirt, feeling the bone dry, griminess of it. He muttered that even the dirt lacked life, wiping his hand on his leg as he stood. Thor helped Jane walk, she was getting weaker. Darcy had her camera on her, ready and recording. If she secretly got Thor to create a spell on her camera to keep it forever charged and shock proof, that was her dirty little secret!

"It won't be long..." Loki murmured, coming to stand on a ridge, looking out at the vast expanse of dark colored earth. "Listen closely..."

Meanwhile back in Asgard, Malekith was furious, no matter where he looked in the palace Loki was gone! Damn that Witch! He would torture her to within an inch of her life and then when she begged for him to kill her, he would heal her and start again!

"My lord! We're detecting life on the Mother Realm!" a lower ranked Elf shouted, running up to him and showing him the read out.

"We move!" He ordered and they soon got themselves boarded onto their ships and were heading home to Svartalfheim. It didn't take them long to get home, landing their ships and marching across the lonely expanse of lifeless earth. Loki and Thor stood with Jane between them. Malekith glared at the blonde male, only to blink when Loki cut his hand off, and dragged Jane by her hair to him. He threw her at his feet and bowed.

"Welcome home, Lord Malekith..."

"My sweet... a very pleasing gift you offer, but I cannot help but wonder at the sudden change..." Malekith mused, wary.

"Please... I am sure your man told you, I tend to be quite destructive when bored... and I am very bored at the moment..." Loki gave a careless shrug of the shoulders.

"Oh... Maybe we can put that boredom to good use... but first... You have something that belongs to me, child. I want it back..." Malekith held his hand up to Jane and began to draw the Aether from her.

She was lifted from the ground, a look of pained fright frozen onto her features as the blackish red mass was drawn from every pour of her body. It was a quick, but painful experience. She collapsed as soon as the last of the Aether was pulled from her, she slowly rolled onto her side and then onto her hands and knees. She coughed and took heavy breathes of air before she lunged at Malekith, tackling him to the ground as Loki threw several throwing knives into the throats and eyes of his guards.

Thor jumped up, the illusion dropping form his hand to reveal that Loki never cut it off and that he had Mjolnir clutched in his grasp. He charged in and began smashing anyone in his way. Tony flew over head, dropping Steve and Bucky into their midst and then took out another group of Elves.

An Elf tried to throw a grenade of some kind, almost pulling Bucky into it, but Loki grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the pull, kicking two elves into it. Bucky thanked him, pulled a gun from his hip and shot another Elf point blank in the head as Loki smirked, driving his knives into another elf, pulling out his long dagger and slashing at another elf, aiming high, then low, ducking and spinning on his knees, driving his blade into another's heart as Steve's shield bounced passed his head and into another Elf, decapitating him.

It quickly dissolved into chaos from there, the small group quickly decimating the large group that had come to take them out. The Avengers had the advantage before Loki cried out as he was grabbed by his hair by Barca, who yanked him to his knees and held a knife to his throat.

"Stay your hands!" He ordered. "You will surrender or I will kill him."

"Barca!" Malekith hissed.

"You will do no such thing. Your master wants him... he is too valuable alive to kill." Thor mused.

"Barca, release him..." Malekith ordered.

"No... he is not worth all this trouble! Our numbers have been decimated because of one Jotun Cunt!" Barca growled.

Loki's eye twitched and in a move most did not thing was humanly possible, he managed to flip his body up, his legs wrapping around Barca's neck and with a mighty twist of his hips he snapped his neck. While Barca's body fell, Loki got his hair free and sat on the dead Elf's face and grinned evilly as he slowly stood up and shook his hair back into his normal wavy cascade down his back.

"Now then, who else wants to call me a Cunt?" Loki asked, grinning evilly as he eyed the group at large.

"You killed one of my Cursed." Malekith stated, lust filling his eyes. "Very impressive."

"Thor."

Thor charged Malekith, who came out of his dazed just as he was smashed in the face with a crackling Mjolnir, his face burning beyond repair. Malekith's people grabbed him and headed back to the ship, they did not have time for this. Loki growled, knives out and like a very deadly dancer, spun and slashed, leaving a wake of maimed and dead bodies as he went after Malekith.

"They are going to try and take over all the realms... how do we get back to earth!?" Jane asked, getting up from where she had been smashing an Elf's head on the ground. "By the way, I see why you like killing... nice stress relief."

"Don't get too use to it." Steve warned her.

"Hey these assholes were going to kill everyone, that dick made the extraction so painful, I wanted to die! I am allowed to want to murder them!"

"There should be another natural path, but the question is where..." Loki sighed but then Jane's cell began ringing and she blinked as she answered.

"This place has really great reception... Hello? Erik!" She chattered with Dr. Selvig, walking towards where the sound quality was getting better. They followed her into a cave like area and she blinked.

"Why are there so many shoes here?" She blinked and then quickly assured Selvig she was listening. As she kept going she found the keys to her rental and then suddenly vanished into thin air.

"There it is..." Loki mused, shoving the others into it before stepping through himself. Once they walked out the warehouse, they found they were indeed back on Midgard and still in London. Jane hung up with Erik and turned back to them.

"Alright, Erik apparently got admitted to a mental hospital because he was running around stone hedge in the buff." Jane stated.

"So we're going to go get him?" Darcy asked.

"You and Ian are." Jane stated.

"Oh shit, I forgot all about him..." Darcy gasped as she noted the wallflower of their group. Ian tried not to feel insulted, but after getting directions from Jane, he and Darcy went to get Erik Selvig out of the Loony Bin.

"I'm contacting Vision..." Tony told them.

"Mother will be here shortly... She must have finally gotten her contacts into some semblance of order..." Loki mused.

"Indeed I did... Had to threaten a few of them, and killed two because they thought they could blackmail me..." Ryilia suddenly spoke up, walking up from out of nowhere. "You look much better, Dr. Foster."

"Thank you, Mrs. Nubia. By the way Lady Frigga is very much alive." Jane told her.

"Very good... She should be getting the Clutch and heading to war with Odick." She grinned as Loki chuckled while Thor roared with laughter.

"Whoa, you really don't like him..." Steve awed.

"Considering the fucker can't keep it in his pants and has a nasty habit of stealing things that do not belong to him... yeah, I really don't like him and in another life time he stole my baby from me! I should rip out his other eye!" She snarled darkly.

"Mother..." Loki hugged her tight and she calmed.

"I'm alright... Now come on, I have a few other things to finish setting up and you all could use a break and maybe a resupply." She waved them to the two limos that pulled up and got them in before they were off to her London base...

After everyone reported, those who remained on earth gaping in either awe, shock or just plain gaping, at the story Thor spun for them about what happened at home. Tony even telling the others they saw Thor 'Cranky,' but would not tell them about it. Steve shook his head and Bucky told them to wait to find out for themselves.

"Alright, people." Ryilia sighed, walking in, Glade and Hannibal, as they learned was the man's name, behind her, each pushing carts with weapons, armor or devices. "The Convergence is almost at it's peek. Dr. Selvig has an idea of how to speed it up so that Malekith cannot enact his plan and it will give me a chance to break the last of the Fakes."

"I broke all but one, mother." Loki told her.

"I am aware and have taken the time to place runes and spells into the stone Vision holds, making it so it cannot be removed and that it draws more power from the natural flow of Magic that the earth gives off as well as the natural magic that all living creatures have, but have long since lost the knowledge and ability to use. It will not harm anyone or anything, but it will keep the Fake that Vision hosts from depleting and killing him." She assured.

"Many thanks again." Vision bowed. "Mrs. Nubia has also given me quite the number books to read and memorize, all on supernatural and preternatural creatures, extraterrestrials and the like. To keep everyone well knowledgeable and prepared in the event more events such as this should occur."

"Alright so how are we going to get the Aether?" Tony wondered.

"Malekith is full of himself. Because he managed to fool Death and Chaos once, he thinks he's unstoppable, superior to the Creators and that he would fool them a second time." Ryilia shrugged, half lazily. "What he does not know or seem to understand is that just because he did it once, that he will be able to do it again. As well as the fact that the 'stones' he is after are fakes and are gone. The real ones still perfectly safe where I left them."

"And where is that exactly?" Fury wondered, leaning back in his chair as he watched the woman who has long since evaded SHIELD like it was the plague.

"Now that's telling, Nickie." She grinned. "And any good, proper magician never reveals her secrets!"

Loki grinned, hand moving to finger his bracelet, thumb rubbing the red stone. Ryilia caught the motion from the corner of her eye and the secretive glint in her eye was unseen by all. Turning she began to hand out the items and explain what they were for, smiling when Avengers all gushed or cooed over the items. Bruce smiled softly at the rather cute golem Ryilia had made of the Hulk, the tiny green creature served as a focal point during his meditations and would also act as a therapy doll for Hulk.

"I love your mom, Loki... can I keep her?" Tony mused, looking at the carefully etched runes on the inside of his Iron Man suit, the runes were for protection, reducing the amount of damage he and the suit take, power charms to boost his weapons or charging charms to power the suit even if the circuits are damaged. There was even a rune to teleport him of out his suit should any potentially fatal attack or damage occur.

"No, you may not." Loki stated, holding the spear his mother had made and the large array of knives and daggers.

"... Could I sign a contract to have you supply me?" Natasha wondered, enamored with her knew guns and other items.

"Sure. I'll have Hanni draw one up. I'm fairly flexible with prices and can even offer you a few jobs for freebies." Ryilia smiled. "Ah, Dr. Selvig. How are you?"

They turned to see Darcy, Ian and Erik walk off the elevator, the older man looking a bit eccentric, but pleased.

"Lady Nubia! It's been so long! I am well, still a little insane from what those Roaches were doing to me." He smiled.

"Sorry, I cannot do anything about that. You've been under that spell for too long and the hit to the head, while it did snap you out of it, it also caused a bit of extra damage. You will be prone to manic bouts of hysteria, but nothing too bad. Please don't go streaking again." She sighed. "Especially near Holy Ground!"

"I meant no disrespect... ah, you must be Loki! Yes, I can see the familial resemblance! Nubia's lucky to have your good looks!"

"... I think you mean I am lucky to have my mother's good looks..." Loki mused.

Thor chuckled as Ryilia rolled her eyes.

"Erik!" Jane jumped on him, hugging him and checking him over. "Can you tell us what's all been happening?"

"I've made a device that can stabilize key Telluric lay lines, it would give us a window of opportunity to turn the tide of this fight as well as keep our world from being warped beyond repair." Erik told her. "I have been carefully plotting and installing them in precise locations to activate remotely."

"I see..." Ryilia waved a hand and the walls changed to show various locations, strange transformer like rods embedded into the ground near old ancient ruins or landmarks. "Right on the cruxes too, very good Dr. Selvig."

"Thank you, my Lady." He nodded humbly. "I've always been a fan of the ancient cultures and legends. I have a few more to lay down, but I was arrested and sent to the home before I could."

"You were streaking." Darcy sighed. "I love you like the fun uncle I never had, but that's an image that I will never be able to clean out of my brain no matter how much brain bleach I use."

The man laughed softly, apologizing to the girl, who only smiled at him in good humor. Making sure everyone was outfitted, briefed and ready, Ryilia then began to open portals and out stepped various beings of myth and legend, others from fantasy or supernatural origins. Loki gave a happy squeal when he saw his brothers, who engulfed him tightly, Loki gushing over his eldest brother's pregnant belly and terrifying the Fire Giant who mated his brother.

Ryilia pulled his ear and he settled, but then she pulled out a pair of really old stone sheers that were blunted and had a strange rust like substance on them. She only said that Lucian better take care of her baby boy and her grandbabies or she would use them to removed his manhood and his eyes. Helblindi only rolled his eyes in fondness at his stepmother's overprotectiveness, Byleístr chuckling as he did not need to threaten the Fire King, though he would would hurt him if he ever hurt his brother or the babies. Laufey, who walked in while his mate was threatening castration, only grinned.

"Don't look to me to save you, my queen is as fierce as any Frost Bitch protecting her pups." Laufey chuckled darkly.

"Oh hush, Laufey. Lucian will take very good care of Helblindi and the baby, I am only fulfilling my promise to Fárbauti to threaten any fool who thinks they are good for his sons!" She huffed. "Besides Lucian knows better than to piss me off, isn't that right, Lucian?"

"Yes, Lady Nubia... I've honored our pacts and we pay the tribute yearly as was agreed upon." He nodded. "To make an enemy of the House of Nubia is to make an enemy of Chaos Himself."

"Very smart man. Too bad Odick wasn't so bright." She gave a long suffering sigh. "Alright, the rest of you..."

The other beings all nodded and either offered weapons, potions, armies or even healers. They got to work planning, waiting out the time they needed while Glade and Hannibal worked silently behind their mistress. Once they were ready, she dismissed the meeting, smirking at Fury who looked like he was about to either have a fit or start sulking in a corner.

"Dr. Foster, Dr. Selvig, we need those nodes in place if we want to keep the damage and death toll to a minimum. Death and Chaos may be long time friends, but Death gets severely annoyed when Chaos causes too much death." Ryilia stated. "Hanni, did you get a hold of Hammer?"

"Yes, madam." He ignored the nickname as he always had, long since use to it and even longer passed correcting her on his proper name. "He has sent the finished product."

He left the room to come back with a large cross like object that when the center was touched with a clear access pass, opened and transformed into a rail gun. Ryilia's unholy grin made them all worried.

"Perfect." She grinned, but then frowned. "Has it been tested?"

"No." Hannibal stated. "And given his past track record of supposedly top of the line weaponry and arsenal, I doubt it will work. The only way to find out is to test it, however Rail Guns are notoriously slow to power up and even slower to rearm and fire."

"I only need it to fix the flow of magic during the convergence." Ryilia sighed. "Test it out, if it's shit, you can kill Hammer." She waved him off. "If it works, but is not up to par, go break his arms and cut out his lying tongue. If it works, then have it ready for when the time is right."

Hannibal only smirked, picked up the Rail Gun and left with it. Glade said nothing as he knew his cousin would handle it, he would focus on keep his Lady focused.

"Why did you trust Hammer to make the Rail Gun?" He wondered.

"Because I wanted to see if I got through to him. If I did, he would have gotten it working. If I did, but he still thinks he can pull a fast one, he will get a warning. If I did not, then it is easier to kill him rather than let him cause us trouble in the future. Always best to get rid of problem before it takes root." she shrugged, signing a few documents and trading gold or jewels with the beings still in the room before they left through their portals.

"Please join SHIELD..." Fury sighed.

"No." She stated, smiling brightly at his annoyed face. "My connections, my people and my self are neutral. We either help or wreck you to keep balance. Your leaders do not understand that and if they have access to anything I have under my control, they will turn into another Hydra and I refuse to allow that to happen."

"Mother..." Loki called.

She looked to him and saw him staring out of the window. Moving to look, she saw the other realms begin to appear in the sky above them. On this side of the world they could see Jotunheim, Muspelheim, Vanaheim, Navilder Asgard and Alfheim. On the other side of the planet they would be able to see Helheim and Svartalfheim Not in proper order, but oh well, the Universe wasn't perfect.

"And so it begins..."

Time ticked by at a faster rate then, everyone tried to relax, wait it out, Ryilia busy in the kitchen cooking to settle her nerves as Loki and his brothers chatted and caught up, Helblindi and Byleístr interrogating Thor, who took it well. The Thunderer's arm around his beloved's waist, not at all bothered by the brothers' aggression. They had a right to worry and fret, Loki was after all their baby brother and very powerful. Thor did find power appealing, but would never use Loki for selfish gains or meaningless fighting.

Laufey only laughed at his sons' pouts as Thor didn't even rankle the least bit. Loki only looked lovesick and doe eyed at his mate, making the brothers grumble even worse.

"My Lady..." Hannibal called, walking into the room, holding a cordless phone in his hands.

"Yes?" She walked out of the kitchen and took it when he offered it to her. "Hello?" She listened and growled low in her throat. "Look here, you old twat waffles! I am not a dog you can summon and expect to roll over when told to! You all wanted to sign that bill that limited the Avengers. Well guess what, they cannot and will not move out until you either remove it or beg them to do their job which is to save as many people as they can. Not everyone can be saved, it is a cold and hard fact!"

She listened and rolled her eyes. "Oh I'm sorry, Prime Minister, was I supposed to give a fuck?" She growled, snapping her fingers as Hannibal left to grab something, coming back with a bottle which he opened and she breathed in the wafting smoke, sneezing even as her eyes flashed a brilliant black color and her grin got demonic. "You made this bed, you better lay in it. I am only waiting until you all realize how stupid you are and correct your mistake. People will bitch one way or the other, there is nothing that can be done about that. So while you waffle back and forth, I'm going to count how many bodies need to hit the floor before you finally make a decision, a correct decision."

With that she hung up the phone and handed it off to Hannibal. "Hmm, I should have half the UN assassinated..." She mused.

"Mother/Wife." The Jotuns all sighed.

"Please, you know how I am..." She sneezed again and huffed. "Okay let's go people, time to save idiots!" She clapped her hands and everyone got up to leave, either by ground, plane or other means...

Malekith stood in the middle of London, looking at all the Mortals, their strange chariots and interesting buildings. The curious stone arts and even their primitive flying devices. He snorted, foolish infantile creatures, the lot of them! His arm y had been regathered, amassed and ready to take over the Nine Realms at his given order.

"My people, our long wait is almost over! Soon, we shall once more rule the Nine Realms and beyond, darkness shall cover all!" He began his speech. "All our enemies will fall at out feet, their treasures now ours, they will pay tribute to us, worship us as the Gods we deserve to be! And I shall finally take a wife, the Jotun's precious Jeweled Flower shall be mine!"

Cheers met his words, the thudding of armor being hit by fists or a weapon, as feet stamped in a steady rhythm.

"The Time has finally come! May our wish finally come true!" He cackled, as tendrils of the Aether slithered out of him reaching up to the Heavens and even out through the world to reach the other two realms on the other side of the planet.

As it spread, a strange darkness began to take over, drawing the attention of the mortals, most stopping to watch, others fleeing. World wide news and media were buzzing with this latest phenomenon and it became obvious that it was happening when the Avengers were temporarily disbanded. Those who once called for their blood were now begging for aid while those who had sided with the Avengers watched on with mounting fright and hopelessness when the Avengers have yet to stop this madness.

The UN was convened and while they argued and debated, they wasted time, letting the world over panic and tremble. The Avengers themselves were enroute, however, they would not take action just yet. Ryilia was smirking as she read through her phone, Facebook, Twitter and even YouTube were blowing up. Tumblr and Instagram as well. All forms of social media was going insane with posts, live video feeds and the like.

On another phone a counter had been set up and the numbers were slowly climbing gaining speed the longer the UN took. The others didn't like this, but trusted the woman to know what she was doing. The UN leaders finally had no choice when another one of Ryilia's trusted assistance, a Mr. Miles, walked in, hooked up his laptop to the monitors and played the videos and even showed them the climbing counter of death tolls, and almost half was either humans killing each other or committing suicide because it was the end of the world. Miles wasn't one to play fair or nice, he went for the throat and he enjoyed every single last moment of it.

Finally the phone call came and Ryilia smiled just as viciously as she would after a successful hunt. The bill and laws to control and regulate the Avengers were being dismissed, they had the green light to do what was needed to save them. Hanging up, she turned the Avengers.

"Move out!" She called for all to hear and they took off, heading right into battle with the Elves, rescuing civilians as Jane, Darcy, Ian and Erik went to place the last of the nodes in their spots. Laufey walked up beside his wife, who smiled and kissed him. "Do not hold back, my beloved..."

"I will bring you a necklace of skulls, my queen." He promised and jumped out of the plane, taking on his natural form and height once more as he landed and formed armor of near impenetrable ice and let out a war cry that was echoed by his people who came rushing out of the natural paths with Fire Giants, Elves and Dwarves alike. In the other realms war was being raged on all fronts, the universe in utter Chaos.

Ryilia could only sit back and cackle in manic glee as she watched from her plane's open hanger door. She watched the bloody battle, humming happily as she enjoyed the show before she then jumped out, pulling the whip from her waist and snapping it into its spear form and landing on an Dark Elf, impaling him as she grinned at the others who stared at her.

"Another one bites the dust..." she hummed and charged.

Loki was somewhere in the madness, a whirlwind of dancing blades, flashing spells and a wake of maimed or dying bodies. He wore a grin similar to his mother's as he shouted playful banter with his brothers. The Avengers thought them mad when Helblindi, pregnant and all went into battle. The Frost Giant a fierce and deadly warrior even if he was weighed down by a babe. His armor was much more impressive and deadly as it guarded and protected the unborn life while he used the skills born of years of hunting, training and battles to mow down his own legion of Dark Elves.

Byleístr fought with brute strength combined with a tactical mind and a swift agility born from years of chasing a tiny Loki about. Between the three brothers, they were eliminating the Enemy as if it were a game! Natasha put her new toys to use and was grinning darkly as she took out the Dark Elves either by shooting, stabbing, or strangling them and beating them down when she had to get close and personal. Hawkeye was shooting them left and right, calling out to the Maximoff Twins who were getting the Civilians out of harms way, Hulk was in the center smashing away at the Elves while Thor and Tony flew above taking out ships and any Elves who dared to take to the air.

Steve and Bucky had a whole legion to themselves and were decimating them with the ease born from the utter love and trust they have in one another. Ryilia sensed a shift before anyone else and called through the comms for everyone to brace for it. It was a second later where world changed from the streets of London to the frozen tundra of Jotunheim.

Loki jumped up onto a rock face, bringing his pinkies and ring fingers on both hands to the corners of his mouth and blew out a shrill whistling sound and it was answered in the form of his Frost Beast charging through the sea of fighting bodies. He quickly jumped on it's back and cackled as he directed it to run and crush any fool in its path.

"Brace!" He heard his mother call again and he jumped off his beast just as it smashed into a rock face, the poor thing yelping but then turning to attack the horde of Dark Elves that were trying and failing to fell it. Loki looked around and saw they were now on Vanaheim. Landing he stomped his foot, a wall of earth shooting up before he shoved his hands out and missiles of earth shot out, impaling anyone who got in the way.

"Found you!" Shouted a Dark Elf, shooting Loki with a dart which was laced with a mild sedative to slow him down, but not drop him into unconsciousness.

Loki growled and spun, forming a bubble of air before shoving it back out, sending the Elves flying. A Light Elf ran up to his side and caught him when his body suddenly shut down.

"My Lord, you need to leave..."

"I will not abandon my family!" He growled.

"... I will do my best to removed the sedative then..." She said instead and a group of Dwarves surrounded them, defending them even as she chanted healing spells to treat Loki's injuries...

Thor summoned a thunderstorm and chuckled darkly as he watched the Elves' ships burst into flames, exploding when his brothers, Lightning and Thunder, struck and destroyed them. Lord Stark flying by him, firing his repulsers at the enemies who had some of the leftover Chitauri scooters, missiles and gunfire aiding him in shooting them all down.

"Thor!"

He turned and landed, smashing his Hammer into an Elf's face, who had managed to pin down Darcy. He snarled, dropping his Iron Lady and bared his fangs.

"Thanks, bro!" She sighed, her camera active and recording everything around her, which was being live streamed on YouTube, which was being played on Miles' computer and therefore watched by the UN and the World over.

"BRACE!" Ryilia's cry came out panicked and before they could ask why, they were suddenly back in London, but when they appeared, the sky was red and the Aether was connecting to the other Realms.

"Shit-fucking-tastic!" Darcy screamed.

"Loki!" Natasha's voice cried out somewhere to her left, she turned and gasped to see Loki pinned down by almost 60 Elves. The battle suddenly went into a stand still then and a circle was opened to allow everyone to see what was going on.

"Loki!?" Helblindi cried, but was stopped by his mate, who created a wall of fire to guard him and his mate form the Dark Elves who took advantage to surround their enemies. "Lucian, let me go- Loki!?"

"My love, be calm; the babe..." Lucian tried to sooth, though he fretted for his tiny brother in-law.

Byleístr had stopped fighting, dropping into a kneel and glaring at where his baby brother was pinned, he would not risk his life, not until there was an opening. Thor felt his Beast clawing at the surface when they saw their mate pinned down. Darcy grabbed his arm, hoping he would not kill her, even as she recorded still. The others were similarly frozen or forced to surrender. Laufey was brought forward and knocked to his knees while his wife was dragged forward by her hair, the woman growling and cursing before she was sneering at Malekith.

"You've tried, Keeper, but ultimately failed..." He chuckled. "I have the Aether and soon my Will shall be complete. The Nine Realms and beyond shall be plunged into darkness and I shall rule as Eternal King with your son as my Queen."

"Tsk, my son would rather teach ungrateful students at the Magic Academies world wide!" She spat out. "Besides you do not hold the Ultimate Weapon at your disposal." She smirked.

"Oh?" He glared at her, wondering if she was lying.

"Wife!" Laufey cried, looking panicked.

"Hush, Husband..." She huffed, pulling a knife from her sleeve, she stabbed her captor repeatedly in his chest before she stood up, shaking her tangled and mussed up hair into some semblance of order. She then summoned up a box, a rather familiar looking one to the Avengers. "In here is the Ultimate weapon in the universe, more powerful than even the Infinity stones..."

"Lies..." Malekith snarled.

"I am Chaos' Agent, He entrusted many ancient and powerful relics in my care... unless you are are an Agent, then how do you know if I speak lies or truth?" She challenged, grinning darkly, holding the box out to him. "Take it... see for yourself..."

"Mother!?" Helblindi looked incredulous.

"Shh, Mommy's talking!" She scolded.

Malekith did not believe the barmy woman, but he could not deny that he was curious nor that he was privy to the knowledge that she was blessed with about relics so old and powerful it would make his mind implode if he even attempted to understand even a fraction of their power. Looking at the box, he figured out how to open it, releasing the hydraulic locks and watching the box slowly open, thick smoke blocking his vision of what was inside a moment before he blinked at the cold coming from the inside of the box. Once the smoke cleared he blinked as he stared at a bowl of what looked like a desert.

"The Hel is this!?" He growled.

"Ah, the Ambrosia that only Chaos and Death are allowed to eat..." Ryilia giggled. "Only the Mother and Father the Universe are allowed to eat it, after all it was made by them to continue their very long lives." She shrugged.

She looked out the corner of her eye where she saw Loki had gone very uncharacteristically still, his eyes wide and tracking the bowl of what he knew to be Rose water Watermelon pudding, fingers twitching as he fought the urge to dive for the bowl. And then the breeze picked up and the scent hit his nose and his control just snapped. Ryilia almost burst into cackling pleas of laughter when her son froze his captors solid and smashed them into ice dust as he flung silent spells, killing anyone in his path, throwing allies out of his way as he stalked forward still, eyes only focused on his prize, his beloved pudding.

"Take a bite and be blessed like our Mother and Father..." Ryilia wheedled, keeping her eyes on her son, who was getting closer to Malekith with each breath she drew.

Everyone on their side watched and if they remembered his reaction the first time, this time it would be even better because he wasn't trying to maul his mother nor was his father trying to prevent him from attacking the holder of his precious desert. Darcy, who had missed this the first time was filming, eyes wide with shock and anticipation. Malekith on the other hand grabbed the little silver spoon sitting beside the bowl in its box and scooped out a bit to taste, curious. But before he could lift it to his lips he was suddenly eating a fist, the spoon caught in Loki's lips, the bowl cradled to his chest as he purred.

"Did I mention that if you can get even a small bit, you will have unlimited power?" She teased, praying on the greed of the fools. And it worked!

The greedy sods charged her son, who took them out, killing them all with a spell, a knife, or a well aimed kick or elbow. All the while he was eating the pudding, looking completely blissed out. The pile of bodies was slowly growing as Loki kept going until they all seemed to realize it was not worth it. Loki sitting upon his mountain, eating his prize and purring away.

"Our son has issues." Laufey sighed.

"I've said it before and I will say it again: Never get between Loki and his Pudding." she sighed, taking a pudding cup out of a subspace pocket, when she heard the telltale sign of Loki about to have a tantrum because his precious was done. She pealed off the top, the scent of vanilla and caramel hitting her son's specially trained nose and he let out a loud screech, diving from his perch toward the new pudding, which his mother tossed at a Dark Elf, who paled and threw it to another, but not before getting a Dagger shoved into his throat while the three beside him were cut down, losing arms and legs alike. Loki's single minded determination to get his Pudding turning him into a one man killing machine.

His mother just grinned, not feeling guilty at all for this, just laughing when her son got his pudding and started to devour it. Just as he was about have his tantrum, she pulled another one, this one chocolate with raspberry sauce. She handed it off to some poor idiot who actually took a bite, big mistake because Loki was on him in seconds, tearing him to pieces and eating the pudding as his mother pulled another one out, this one was a rather strange mix of kiwi, melon and strawberry pudding which she pitched into the center of the Dark Elf Legion. Loki shooting off after it and the screams were just pure music to her ears.

When she did not pull another pudding cup out, Loki's tantrum was so worth it! He let out a Hellion scream and hurled all manner of spells, reanimating the corpses to do his biding and over all reducing the Elves numbers to nothing! The others had snapped out of their shock and rejoined the fight, those who did not die surrendered and and were held under guard as Ryilia calmly went and pulled Loki off of his newest death pile.

"Mommy! My precious is gone!" He sobbed into her belly and she pet his hair, smiling fondly.

"I know, my darling... I'll make you all the pudding you could want once we finish this..."

"You whore!" Malekith's bellow made her stiffen as Loki slowly stood, glaring over his mother's shoulder at the bastard dared to call his mother such a disgusting name. "You lied!"

"And you're the dumbass to believe me." she shrugged, not bothering to turn to look at him. "Besides you led your people to their deaths for Fake Infinity stones..."

"WHAT!?" came the collective shouts.

"The Aether you are using is also a Fake and I'm quite sure you just wasted it's power..." She grinned as she looked up to see the Aether attempting to reach Asgard at the top of Yggdrasil, but then Malekith's sudden scream of agony was music to her ears. "Ohh, poor baby... did that hurt?"

She smiled as she waved her hand and with a sharp bark, the tendrils of the Aether dispersed into vapor, as Malekith's screams echoed all around. She giggled gleefully as she turned to her son, who looked to be calming down from his pudding induced high/temper tantrum. He stumbled into her side and whined, muttering spells that wove into her hand motions as the worlds of the Nine all began to right themselves, damages repaired, countless dead given life again while magics were re-balanced and their Knots restored.

She cackled when the treasures that were once stolen from their respective resting places appeared before her and then shot off to their homes, the view of that world vanishing from sight as the Convergence began to wane, Dr. Selvig's devices stabilizing the Telluric currents enough to keep Midgard whole and the backwash of magic from killing everyone. Loki's steady stream of spells began to wane as he dropped into a light doze, his soft snores tickling her ear as she calmed down herself and held him close, practically carrying him like when he had still be a babe in her arms.

"Well then... that was somewhat anti-climatic..." she huffed, vastly amused. "Oh wait... we're not done just yet..." She grinned as Malekith stood, looking infuriated and ready to slit her throat.

"You bitch!" He screamed charging her.

She shoved Loki away, the Jotun Prince waking and ducking the Elf's wild grab for him while his mother's leg shot up, over his head, and kicked Malekith's face in at the same time he punched him in the gut, both slamming him into the ground where they pinned him down, knives at his throat.

"That was a stupid move..." Loki growled. "How he managed to steal from Chaos and Death is beyond me..." Loki huffed.

"Parents are trusting fools, my son... We will always listen to our children, believe them even as they lie... It's something I have taught you, you will understand better when you are a parent." she smiled. "Chaos and Death love their children, even if said children are forever hurting them... They let their guard down once and at it cost them dearly."

"What do you know, you witch!?" Malekith spat.

"I know more than you, you little brat..." She huffed and looked up as the BiFrost opened and she purred in glee seeing Odin walk out of the beam of light. "Odick's here..."

"You disrespectful- YOU?!" Odin bellowed out looking horrified.

"Me!" Ryilia chirped.

"Mother?" Loki blinked when she stood, leaving Loki to keep the Elf pinned.

"Mother!?" Odin cried out looking between the Jotun and the woman. "You procreated!?"

"Please, you act like he is my first child." She rolled her eyes. "Seren and I have many children either with one another or with our few spouses. Loki happens to be my youngest and the one I have personally groomed from birth."

"You should not have birthed him!" Odin growled.

"And who do you think you are to tell me what to do? I do what I want." She growled, stopped and blinked before she facepalmed. "Damn it, that's where you get it from..."

Loki giggled at the annoyed look on his mother's face, and rolled out of the strike that Malekith aimed at his back, kicking him in the ribs before prancing out of his range, leaning on Clint's shoulder as the man readied an arrow.

"Tell me when."

"Not yet..." Loki giggled.

"Enough!" Odin bellowed.

"Hmm, no." Ryilia chuckled.

"RHYG!" Odin thundered and her smile fell as she stood tall. She looked cold and foreboding in that instant.

"How dare you speak my name..." she hissed lowly. "You, AllFather, are not old enough nor are you favored enough to call me by my given name."

"I dare because you should have birthed me a son as powerful as he!" He pointed at Loki, who blinked.

"Mom?" He asked.

"Remember when I vanished for almost a year?" She wondered, all the Jotuns grumbled their assent to her inquiry. "It was because the One Eyed Ogre thought he could have me to himself, to birth him another bastard, but this one worthy of his throne. Frigga and I are such good friends because while I had indeed become pregnant, I did not carry to term... She had been most kind even after I lost the baby and did not hold ill will to me because her husband was a faithless cur. Not long after that she fell pregnant with Thor and well Jalan had just lost her latest clutch to the bastard..."

The lazily shrug she gave made him growl in annoyance.

"You see, my dear Loki. My name is Rhyg. Which is the true name of-"

"Lord Chaos..." gasped Helblindi as he and the all non human fighters bowed low as Rhyg rolled her eyes.

"Yes. And Odin only knows this because he's on the council of the Gods. Anubis and the others are most displeased with him. Seren and I humble ourselves, make one another mortal in a sense... We wander where we are needed and we live extended lives when needed. It is why I had to cut my 'life' short. When my time is done, I will need to leave, but before I do, there will be a newly named God of Chaos." She turned her head to look at her son who gaped. "You have much to learn and little time to learn it in, my sweet."

"HE IS MINE!" Malekith bellowed out, but before he could move an inch, he was suddenly under the crushing weight of the Beast, who had had enough of the annoying pest and was raking blackened talons, through tender flesh, bone white fangs bite and snapped quickly staining in blood as gore clung to its muzzle.

The look of horror and fright only made Rhyg's insane cackles that much more gleeful before she stopped, snapping her fingers and the Beast stopped.

"Thor, you are such a messy eater..." she sighed, walking up to the Beast, petting his blood matted fur and taking a summoned cloth to wipe blood and gore off his face. "Why not change back? Loki needs cuddles."

He huffed and did as order, the Beast now in Thor's body moved to Loki, taking the cloth to finish wiping away the gore and blood before he was draping himself over Loki, who purred in contentment, nuzzling into Thor. Clint looked ready to faint, but kept his arrow trained on Odin now that Malekith's life had been ended rather brutally if abruptly.

"Aww, you didn't leave me anything..." Rhyg pouted, as she dug through the remains of the 'Eternal King' of the Dark Elves, dropping what looked like a ruined liver back to the floor with a huff. "Oh well... I could always harvest what I need from the others..."

"Mother..." Loki mused.

"Yes, one more to go." She nodded at the unheard question.

"You will give me the Stones!"

"What stones?" Laufey chuckled, moving to stand by his wife, she leaned into his leg, purring happily as he smiled fondly at her. "They are all destroyed."

"I know Death and Chaos, those were Fakes! Powerful indeed but limited. The real Stones, she has kept hidden and I demand that they be handed over."

"Nope!" She giggled. "The orders by the council was for them to be found and I did inform you all that I would hide them where they would remain safe and well out of harm's way."

"You will give them to me, you wretched creature!" Odin roared.

"..." She sighed and pushed off her husband. "My thanks to everyone who has helped. Please return home, you will find that all that has happened had been reversed, expect a Hero's welcome home and do not forget to Honor this day."

She ignored Odin's fuming as portals and the BiFrost opened to take back those who had come to fight when summoned. The Avengers gathered, all armed and trained their sights on Odin. The King of the Norse Gods was furious as Rhyg didn't pay him much mind, she simply pulled a book from nowhere and opened it, reading it as the others left.

"You dare read!?" He roared, furious at the woman.

"... Yes, looking back at what you did and what needs fixing or rather what can be compensated. Because the Universe is such a delicate and complex act to balance, I cannot kill you. Well I could but that means I'd have to wait an extremely long time to find my lovers and have my children again. It also means retraining Loki, assuming you do not steal him from me again, Thief!" She spat the last line at him as she kept reading. "Hmm... Jalan's been mortally wounded... tsk."

"Mother Jalan!?" Loki cried, looking horrified as the Beast gave a howl of mourning and bloodlust, turning those white on red eyes on his bastard of a sire.

"Yes... but her end was coming. Best for her to die defending her Clutch rather than let her grow old and insane. The multiple deaths of her children, the mutants born and the miscarriages all took their toll on her mind, only Frigga kept her sane and even then that was beginning to fade. It also saves Thor the mercy of killing one of his Mothers." She stated.

Loki frowned, he didn't like it but if it was the better option he would honor it. The Beast growled low, just as displeased, but understanding.

"Wait, that Dragon lady is dying!? That sucks!" Tony cried.

"I know. But it must happen or shit will fuck up and I'm not in the mood to start again. I just finally got something somewhat decent to happen in all of your lives for once." She huffed. "Seren's bitched at me enough times to curb my usual manner of 'help'. Tsk... Jalan will be reborn later on down the road, a Spirit of Wrath and Vengeance." She assured them. "Don't worry if Thor suddenly comes home with a tiny gold dragon who will not leave him be, Loki."

"Please, I come home with all manner of creatures!" Loki rolled his eyes.

"ENOUGH!" Odin bellowed, he hated being ignored and that was all these people seemed to keep doing.

"Aww, temper, temper!" Rhyg cooed. "One would think you were nothing more than a spoiled child, throwing tantrums like that."

Odin aimed Gungnir at the woman, firing a bolt of magic at her, but when it hit, it only burst into harmless sparks that were absorbed into her flesh. She did not look impressed in the least. Loki growled in anger at seeing his mother be shot at while Thor/the Beast, snarled low at their worthless sire. How dare he try to harm their mate's Dame! Laufey was no better, struggling against his elder sons' hold to kill the bastard who tried to hurt his wife and queen. Odin took from him one spouse, he would not take another one!

"That was foolish." She sighed and turned her back on him and walked up to her mate. "Do not kill him."

Loki smirked as several copies of him appeared and they all charged the one eyed king of Asgard. The Beast slowly transforming back into its actual form as it snuck up on Odin and with a mighty chomp , broke his left leg and another crushed his right shoulder. Loki took hold of Gungnir, who seemed to coo in his hands.

"She's purring mother." Loki stated, admiring the spear as his clones dissipated.

"She's prone to. She's not nearly as picky as her baby sister, Mjolnir, is. Gungnir likes power and you have that in spades, my son." Rhyg giggled as she finished calling in her people to clean up the mess, give medical aid where needed, gather up the dead and either bury them or give them back to their families to do bury on their own. She smiled at Darcy's camera, the brunette still recording everything. "Mr. Miles, I trust you will finish dealing with the UN? If they are still stubborn and try to regulate the only people who are willing to go out of their way to save everyone, then I will simply take everyone with powers and move them to a different world or realm and leave you all vulnerable. I give you a month tops to kill yourselves off."

With that Darcy cut the feed and put her camera away, before she cheered and whooped because seriously, this was the best internship she's ever done! Jane rolled her eyes at Darcy, but couldn't help smiling herself. Erik and Ian just looked relieved that the madness was either over with or dying down.

"Alright, who's coming with?" Rhyg asked, Loki walking up to her with the Beast dragging Odin.

Laufey and her other sons, Lucian and the Avengers crowding in.

"I'm sitting this one out." Jane stated. "Besides I need to get changed and help mediate the media shit storm about to break."

"Alright. Glade, you know what to do and remember nothing happens to them or else." Rhyg nodded to her PA, who everyone just now noticed was dressed in a tribal warrior dress, covered in blood, his claymore resting on his shoulder as he actually smiled for once.

"Yes, my Lord." He bowed formally and everyone who was staying moved toward him as the others joined the Avengers.

"Heimdall, whenever your are ready, my friend!" She called up and in seconds they were being grabbed by the BiFrost and carried off.

Darcy giggled as she landed, the trip was pretty fun, she wondered if she could convince Stark to make a theme park with a ride similar to BiFrost travel, she'd gladly spend all her life savings to go every day! Tony held Banner up, the man having calmed down when the danger was over with, Natasha on his other side, helping to hold him up.

"Whoa..." Clint admired the great golden dome about them. "What fantasy and scifi movie makers wouldn't give to see this..."

"They are not allowed up here." came a cold stern voice, that warmed when it turned its attention to Loki and his mother. "Hello again my Godson, my friend and sister."

"Hello Heimdall." Rhyg smiled, giving him a brief hug before she walked passed, heading out of the building with the others following. "You may take a break, I will keep guard. Seren is over in the Omega quadrant, I'm sure you and your wife could use some alone time."

"Many thanks." He bowed and as soon as they were all out of the hub, he activated the BiFrost and was on his way to see his wife, knowing that Chaos would keep the Nine Realms from falling apart, at least from doing so ahead of schedule.

"Huh, I did not know that he was married." Stated Sif, from where she and an army worth of horses stood on the bridge.

"There are many things one does not know, but could learn if one knows when and where to ask." Loki chuckled. "Where are we headed?"

"The Palace. I have many things to correct, come along." Rhyg stated and they all mounted a horse, Loki mounting Thor instead as Laufey grabbed Odin, the king cursing and growling the whole way as he was carried like a shopping satchel by the Frost Giant.

The group road through the city streets where the war between Frigga's people fought with those loyal to Odin. Several dead bodies laid about, others dying or too injured to move more than an inch or two. Those who remained on their feet were sitting and drinking wine or offering medical aid. But everyone looked up at the veritable army approached, tensing but suddenly a child ran into the street and cried happily.

"Thor's home!" She cried as the Beast came to a halt and Loki easily slid off as it transitioned back into Thor's body, picking up the child and sniffing her, purring happily as it recognized of his Clutches Hatchlings. "Loki's back! Everyone! Loki's home too!"

Soon the streets were flooding with people no longer at war, all gathered to see the group. Many happy, others frowning, and those who saw their king held like a basket of laundry under Laufey's arm either laughed themselves sick or took a weapon, only to have them turned into flowers with a negligent wave Loki's hand.

"To the Palace, everyone... And you lot wake up!" Rhyg growled, grabbing Gungnir from her son and slamming the end into the earth, the dead and dying reviving, the injured healing and everyone gasping at the awesome power she displayed before handing the spear back to her son, nodding. "Move it!"

They did as ordered and soon the whole of Asgard was in the main hall of the Asgardian Palace. Once in side, everyone could see the main members of the Clutch sitting before Odin's throne, Frigga in her battle armor still, her hair a mess and hanging limply around her face as tears fell from her eyes. In her lap was Jalan's head, petting the blood soaked auburn hair, no longer tightly braided. The liquid gold that once moved lively around her body was tarnished and slowly corroding away. She had a deep wound through her stomach, her ruby red blood flowing steadily even as Sif's mother pressed clothes to the wound, Lady Eir trying to heal the mortal wound, but nothing was working.

The Beast moved to drop to its knees beside its mother, a mournful whimper coming out. Jalan opened her eyes, the once vibrant gold a dull bronze, her lips pale and tinging blue as the live slowly left her.

"Shh, my son... I die with honor, surrounded by my Clutch... You will live on, have children and raise them... Where is our precious Gem?" She wondered.

Loki came to kneel beside Eir, and Jalan smiled weakly, coughing blood but bringing her other hand up to cup his cheek.

"... so... beautiful... you will make... pretty babies... powerful... I am glad... we met Civip Kethend..." She turned to the Beast and smiled once more, weaker still, her face moving oddly like it was taking too much effort to change her expression. "Love'im... guard'im... Kepesk... Xurwkar..."

The Beast laid down so his head was resting on her chest, like when it was a small pup, trying to seek the comfort his Draconian mother once brought him. He felt her weak hand card through his hair, listened to her heartbeat fading in her chest, the raspy breaths she drew, labored and getting harder with each breath.

"You stupid Dragon..." Frigga scolded.

"... Love... you... my... Ferrod Rumag... I will make... up to... you... to... tom..." He breath stilled and her heart pumped on last time before she went limp with death, eyes looking lovingly up at Frigga who choked and let out an anguished cry.

Frigga has loved and hated Jalan, that was no secret. She had often thought she would not be bothered by her partner's death when the time came. But then again she always thought she would be the one to end Jalan's suffering, but how wrong she was. For several thousands of years they have raised a son together, fought and protected their Clutch, their people, have shared a bed and mated. Now her heart was breaking because her love dead, but she died to protect her from Odin.

Her heart rendering wails filled the silence as more joined. The Beast howled mournfully as Loki let silent tears fall. Rhyg said nothing as she bowed her head, Jalan had suffered much, but in the end she had happiness and was finally at peace. Jalan's body began to glow and then break apart into glittering particles of light floating up and through the room vanishing over the gathered people who felt oddly forlorn at her passing. Children sobbed, those who knew Jalan as their fun loving Aunt or somewhat crazy Granny, the others not understanding why Jalan would not come back.

"I will not insult you with needless condolences, but know that Jalan's fate was sealed, Lady Frigga." Rhyg told the grieving queen, who nodded, into her hands, but did not speak.

Letting this carry on a bit more, Rhyg finally had enough and with a snap of her fingers she had everyone's attention. They watched as she walked up to Hliđskjálf, the grand throne changing and morphing into what looked like the bones of ancient beasts long since dead or only heard of in myths and legend. It macabre and frightening as she easily sat in the throne. She took a breath and they watched in awe as the woman known as Rhyg melted into a beautiful man, skin like starlight, eyes an infinite rainbow that put the BiFrost to shame, hair that made even the darkest reaches of space pale in comparison. He was much taller than even the tallest Jotun, and then he spoke.

" _ **Now then...**_ " the voice was not heard so much as felt in the vary marrow of their bones, shaking them at it depth. " _ **Many things need changing...**_ "

Everyone gulped in bright as Chaos seemed to stare them all in the eye, looking at their souls and seeing their sins.

" _ **First: You will stop this pointless fighting... It saddens your Mother and I, we do not like that Our Children fight, especially petty, selfish wars!"**_ They all winced at the ire Chaos sent into their bones. " _ **I've buried too many spouses, too many children borne of my flesh or my seed. Your Mother has suffered just as much!**_ "

Those who did not seem affected were those who were in the Clutch and the strangers who came from the BiFrost, but the mixed group were shivering under the sheer power they felt from the God of Chaos, the Goddess of Law and Order, the Father of the Multiverse and beyond.

" _ **I foolishly let one of my Children trick me and my Wife, he stole from Us the Infinite Stones. Ever since, We have had to travel Time and Space, as Lesser Gods, as Mortals! And do you know what We have done all this time? All these passing Eons!?**_ " Chaos hissed, he might as well have shouted as everyone collapsed, unable to withstand the sheer power, the raw feel of a True Gods might. " _ **We have cleaned up your mess... Have had to provoke wars, end others... Had to wipe entire Cultures and Peoples from existence when they thought themselves Superior to your Parents!**_ "

The castle quaked under Chaos' fury, all of Asgard cowered under her Father's temper, the storms racing forward to lend their visual efforts to properly display how displeased their Sire was, Ancient relics and artifacts released eons worth of magic and power to show had utterly pissed one of their Creators was.

" _ **But like any Parent, I forgive you and find myself amused by your stupidity.**_ " He admitted, calming down. " _ **But it ends here! Ragnarok will come! And when it does, I will Head it as it should be! Do not be fooled, the only true Immortality in existence is your Mother and I! You all will die either at the hands of one another or at Ragnarok, but know you will all die eventually. Death and I will live on and when we tire of the solitude, of the silence we shall begin again because it is what we want. We want you to live again, to live for the better or the worse, that is up to you. But know that when you have overstepped our bounds, you Judgment will be swift!**_ "

Standing up Chaos then moved to Laufey, his mate having to look up at him, with awe and love.

" _ **My current husband and father of my Heir is the Frost Giant Laufey King! Your King, Odin, one of my more willful sons...**_ " here Chaos snarled, sending a particularly nasty bolt of magic through Odin, who howled in agony. " _ **Has ordered the genocide of the Jotuns, but did Odin One-eye ever tell you that he was Half Jotun?**_ "

Scandalous gasps filled the room.

" _ **Oh yes... and he claims 'A Jotun shall never sit on the Throne of Asgard!' Oh how humorous it is that ironically one already sat in this very chair!**_ " He cackled insanely bringing terror to their quaking bones. " _ **But now, his only legitimate heir, Thor borne of Frigga before she left the castle in exile, will be named king-**_ "

"No-"

" _ **Silence.**_ " the world went utterly mute at the simple command. They feared they had gone deaf! " _ **Thor will be named King and as he has already mated my Heir, Loki, will be your Queen. And so you understand, my Children, Loki is Half Norn, he is my only child borne of Mischief. I have Havoc, I have Discord, I have Mayhem, Anarchy, Turmoil, Pandemonium! I have many children, but of all of them only one has been born of Mischief, and Mischief can hand the mantle of Chaos much better than any other form!**_ "

They gasped and Loki looked like he might faint.

" _ **Yes, my darling Air, you are my Heir to the Title Chaos much like your very distant cousin, Mors is Death's Heir and has been long since trained in his art. I'm sure you all know who the Angel of Death is...**_ " Chaos chuckled and they all paled. " _ **Now then let's begin with first Odin's punishment...**_ "


	25. Epologue

Epilogue ~10 years later~

"Avengers, assemble!" Shouted Steve as he threw his shield to ricochet between a few cars and enemies, being caught by his lover, Bucky who used it to bash the strange demon that had come pouring out of a swirling massive portal.

"The hell!?" came Tony's voice over the comms. "Are these... Dark Elves fused with Chitauri!?"

"Fuck!?" Sam, one of the newest Avengers cried when his head was nearly taken off by said creature. "Who the hell opened that Portal!?"

"I do not know..." Scarlet Witch's voice came over the comm as well, she sounded annoyed and was rightly so. "But I think I see what is holding it open!"

"Need a lift, sister?" Pietro asked, running by his sister, easily picking her up and running off with her on his back, dodging on coming fire and using the knives he was gifted to cut a few Chitauri/Elf hybrids down.

"If you can close it, then do it!" Steve ordered. "Nat, Clint, where are you!?"

"I'm a little busy!" Nat snapped, kicking the crap out of what looked like a reanimated Runin Warrior fused with what looked like one of the aliens from the Movie Alien. "Bruce, I could use the Other Guy!"

A roar echoed both through the comms and through the air before something large and green came barreling through the the city street, whatever these Necros were, got smashed along the way.

"Mr. Stark sir... I'm not sure I know what to do about this?" came a young voice.

"Peter, these things are already dead. Don't hold back. Treat them like the Doombots!" Tony ordered.

"Did you bring that kid with you!?" came his wife's furious voice.

"Pep-"

"Don't you 'Pep' me!" Pepper snapped. "When our children are born, you are NOT training them or taking them into battle do you hear me Anthony Howard Stark!?"

"Ouch, real first name and middle name..." hissed an amused voice. "And from the Preggo wife. Hey writer lady, you are so mean!"

"Deadpool, who the hell are you talking to?" Clint demanded.

"Focus people!" Steve grunted.

Suddenly a thunderstorm rained down and a bolt landed in the middle of a huge mob of the Necros and from it appeared Thor, who looked older, bigger and if possibly even more frightening than he ever had before. He wore a helmet with wings rising from it, his crimson read cloak flowed around him as the wind sang, his trusted Iron Lady in his hand.

"Enough!" He bellowed and all stilled, the Necros turned to him, staring dumbly. "You shall return from whence you came..."

The Creatures shared a look and charged back into battle as a monstrous creature appeared out of the Portal next.

"Fine..." Thor sighed, spinning his hammer and throwing it in a wide arch around him, thunder and lightning following its path. "Greetings friends."

"Hey Bolt boy!" Tony grinned, flying by, laughing when Thor simply clapped his hands producing a crack of thunder that blasted the flying monkey and spider hybrids back into Hulk's rampage, Natasha on her husband's back as he smashed anything that tried to get to her.

"Thor!" Darcy cheered as she ran through the chaos, dancing around it, casting spells and the like as she did so, her father's hunting knife on her thigh in case she wanted to stab an idiot or two.

"Sister Darcy, I've missed you."

"Scarlet found what is making the Portal, can you help me close it?"

"Magic is not my strong suit..." He blushed in shame.

"Shit!?" Bucky yelped, drawing their attention when the monstrous creature that had emerged finally stepped through, but instead of attack the Avengers and the innocents around the area, it threw its head back and howled, the Necros all dropping and cowering. "The fuck is that!?"

"Ah, there you are Saritua!" He smiled before it turned to a frown as he held up his hand, catching Mjolnir as she returned to him, he floated into the air, one arm around Darcy as he floated to the beast's face and sure enough he saw what he was looking for. "Hel, what are you doing here? I know you did not unleash this madness... because if you did you will not like the punishment awaiting you at your grandmother's hand."

The young girl sitting on the Beast's head smiled up at him, unrepentant, but the dim look in her green eyes told him that she feared his threat.

"No, Father, I did not do this. There is one thing that Granny has told me it is never to mess with the Departed. This is magics fouler than my Necro Arts." She informed him and he nodded his head.

"Wait... did that little girl just-" Darcy gasped.

"Thor's a Dad?!" cried several voices.

"Excuse me, but I believe we are still in the middle of battle." came Vision's cool voice over the comms.

"Right! Saritua! Let's put these restless souls back where they belong!" the child cheered and then she began to speak in dark tongues, the beast below her feet opened its jaws and a large orb appeared before smaller beams fired out of it and each one struck a Necro, the creatures letting out dying wails or trying to flee, but soon they were gone and the girl, Hel was finishing her black speech with a pray so soft and sweet, one would not think she was capable of the dark magic needed to use Necromancy "There! Granny Star will be most pleased and uncle Mors will like a nice break too!"

"Hel..." Thor sighed. "We are among the mortals, you must soften your magics and Saritua's form is too demonic and monstrous for them as well."

"Oh! Right!" She cast a spell and as her familiar shrank, she was safely lowered to the floor until she was scooping up a tiny Yorkie into her arms. "Better, Father?"

"Indeed, my daughter." Thor chuckled as he landed, and set Darcy down.

The others made their way back and they turned to Scarlet who was working impressive magic to contain the book that was sitting almost innocently under the portal.

"Wanda!" Pietro tried to warn her, but was too late when a fist socked her in the face, sending her flying, but she did not go far as something suddenly grew behind her into a full sized man. "Thank you, Scott!"

"No problem..." The man stated, as he held the woman who was dazed and sure to pass out in a moment.

Vision was looked thunderous at the bastard that had dared to harm his wife. But stopped when he saw who had hit her.

"Malekith..." Thor growled. "I killed you too quickly last time..."

"Malekith? Is he not the one who-"

"Yes, he hurt not only your Grandmother, but everyone in the universe as well, especially those of the Nine Realms." Thor nodded, his daughter looking the Necro who leered at them, picking up the book and snapping it shut, closing the portal as well.

"It's been a long time, Thunderer... Where is my Queen?"

"You have no queen, I do however and my love is currently cleaning up the mess you made of our home. So do not worry you will face my love soon enough." Thor promised.

"You dare touch what was always mine!?"

"He dares just fine thank you!" A voice called from behind before he felt the stabbing pain of a knife in his back before he was punched in the back of the head, a kick was then swung into his gut, causing him to double over, allowing his attacker to stomp on him a few times before grinding his decaying face into the ground below. "No wonder my mother is as mad as she is! It is insanity to keep the world ordered while also causing the right amount of chaos to keep things from getting boring!"

"Loki!" the women of the group smiled seeing their friend.

"Hello again my friends!" Loki chuckled softly, grinding his foot down harder. "Aunt Seren will be most furious to know that one of her former attendants gave you gave you her book... Hel, come take this to your Granny!"

"Yes, mother!" Hel giggled, running up to her mama and grabbing the book with great care and vanishing into a portal that looked oddly like blood.

"Wait... Mother?!" several people cried out.

"Yes, mother." Loki rolled his eyes. "I thought I explained to you all that as Jotun I'm intersexed, I have both sexual organs of a man and woman! I can clearly sire and birth my own children should I choose to do so! And I have birthed my own darling children!"

"Indeed. We have 3 sons and a daughter, with two more on the way!" Thor was quite pleased with himself as Loki huffed, finally crushing Malekith's head under boot.

Everyone winced at the sound and the sight of the gore, but Loki did not care, he moved over to his husband and leaned on him with a tired whine.

"I am quite famished, Thor. Feed me and these two spawns of yours!" He demanded.

"Of course, but shall we wait for our children to finish and join us? After all we were supposed to be meeting our friends so they can meet their Godchildren!" Thor smiled, caressing the the just showing baby bump that was hidden by the fabrics and armor his mate wore.

"Holy shit..." Tony gasped. "Did you just say we have Godchildren?! As in literal GODchildren!?"

"Yes and yes." Loki hummed and soon another portal appeared and Hel and her brothers stepped forth from it.

"Well..." Steve cleared his throat. "It seems we're done and Lady Nubia's people are already underway with clean up..."

"Who's up for takeout and a massive sleepover over at Avenger Tower!?" Tony perked up, never one to linger too long on something.

They all agreed and soon were on their way to the tower. Once in the safety of their home, everyone found places to sit or lay down, with their respective partners or lovers.

"It's been like 10 years since we saw you!" Tony laughed, his arm around his very pregnant wife, their 10 year old son sitting on his other side.

"It was longer for us... time flows differently and for each realm, a day could pass here and an entire age could pass on Asgard or half a millennia on Jotunheim." Thor chuckled. "Finally took the Lady Potts for a wife, did you Lord Stark? And such a fine son you have! And another on the way too!"

"Yes, Pep and I have been married since a little after our little hostile takeover of Asgard! This our son, Jarvis." Tony smiled. "Vision thought it only fitting that my first son had the name of his Uncle."

Vision looked sheepish as he held his wife close to him, she was awake now and in post mission meditation.

"And I've married Wanda... We are attempting to have a child. Though I do not think it will be possible." he murmured.

"It will happen, my friend, do not doubt that. My mother spoke of a few surprises for a few of you." Loki chuckled, holding his youngest son and daughter to his sides while his elder sons cuddled into their father.

"Good, I look forward to parenthood." Vision smiled.

"Right, you need to meet some new faces and not so new faces!" Tony chirped. "You know Sam and Rhoda! They are official Avengers now! Sam's Falcon and Rhodey is War Machine! The UN and the President tried to push the Iron Patriot shtick but after some prick I once dicked over when I was beyond smashed back 99 leading into the 2000s, decided he was gonna kidnap my pregnant wife and experiment on her. Now thanks to him my son can set things on fire if he gets emotional enough."

Thor frowned, "and is this man alive still?"

"No. I killed him." Pepper purred. "He nearly cost me my child and husband, like hell was I letting him breath another moment."

"A woman after my own heart." Loki almost swooned.

"You know Wanda and Pietro, they finally got the Green card to be Avengers after they went to a specialized school where they learned to control their powers and the like!" Darcy smiled. "They kept their old names of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver!"

"Indeed, it is good that they learned." Thor chuckled at Loki's evil grin when Wanda gulped, remembering her training sessions with him.

"This is Scott Lang, a former criminal, a computer genius and quite the hacker! He's got a special suit that allows him to shrink and grow as he pleases and he can command various forms of insects though namely ants, bees and their various breeds. His girlfriend's not here at the moment, she over in Japan dealing with some people, but she's called Wasp and Scott is called Ant-Man!" Darcy laughed.

"Then there is this kid, Peter Parker, quite the little genius, overly eager and a nerd to boot, but he's got heart and is quite the agile, little spider! He calls himself Spiderman."

"I got bit by a radioactive spider and it gave me quite a few perks, I can climb walls, sense danger to some degree, I'm agile like Mr. Stark said, and I'm quite strong, not as strong as the Hulk though." Peter blushed. "Oh this is Wade Wilson- he's a bit of an acquired taste, so sorry if he's a bit much."

"Aww, so mean Spidey!" Wade whined under his hood, self conscious of his rather grotesque looks around strangers, though he had grown comfy around the Avengers over the years and mostly worked for the good guys and for free, he was still a Merc and weapons and his collection were not cheap you know! "So you're the main characters of this story!? I think the Writer forgot her main plot line!"

"What?" Thor and Loki blinked confused.

"Ignore him, he tends to say things at random that make no sense or speaks to two entities that only he can hear that he calls White and Yellow, apparently they are boxes." Natasha waved off. "As for myself, I'm quite happy with Bruce, we've been going slowly, working at his pace, but it seems after our little trip to Asgard, he and Hulk have come to an agreement of sorts, I do not mind, I love both the man and the beast."

"As do I Lady Widow." Loki smiled as he looked at his own husband, who grinned, showing off inhumanly sharp teeth.

"Bucky and I finally tied the knot and we're thinking of adopting a few kids." Steve smiled at his husband who hugged him close, kissing his temple, his metal arm had clearly been upgraded by Stark as it was sleeker, stronger and had a synthetic dermal layer to hide the fact it was metal and gave him sensations of having a flesh arm again.

"Coulson's still a fanboy and a creeper though." Bucky snorted.

"Yes, the Son of Coul... do I need to speak with him?"

"No, he's the best Super Nanny we've got! And the only Super Nanny who wasn't a secret Hydra goon!" Tony shouted. "He's the only who puts up with our kids!"

"Yeah, now that things have calmed down, my wife and kids can live with me again, though we still got our safe house for when shit hits the fan." Clint smiled. "Two boys and a girl with another baby on the way, we're hoping for another girl who we plan to call Natalie."

"Congrats." came the consensus from the others in the room.

"We got a new handler as well, her name is Sharon Carter, or Agent 13 and she and Pietro are dancing around one another." Sam smirked when the speedy mutant glared at him.

"Oh can't forget his highness Prince T'Challa of Wakanda." Tony added, waving his hand to the silent man who was observing them from the corner, his bodyguard sitting prim on her stool, she would shook Natasha a dark look every now and again. "And I believe that is it. Fury and Hill are still our bosses, and SHIELD is being overhauled still from the Hydra infestation, but your mother and her people have been a big help!"

"Alright, then it is our turn. As you know my mother implemented several changes, many far reaching and trans dimensional." Loki stated. "Thor has been a fair and just King, our people adore him and my father has passed the crown to Byleístr, who is courting a young Mage in training. I believe my brother's rule will be a long and peaceful one. Helblindi and Lucian have had twin daughters and live quite happily on Muspelheim, though I get frequent visits from my nieces since my brother is trying to get pregnant with sons now."

Thor chuckled as he pulled his eldest children into his arms proud of them. "Aye, Helblindi was quite envious when we had Sleipnir, our eldest, Jörmungandr, our second, Fenrir our third and our only daughter, Hel. With two more on the way. We do not know if they will be male or female or even both, but I love my children no matter what they are."

"Do you still get Cranky?" Darcy wondered. "And where is my wife!? She hasn't visited in so long!"

"Sif is playing diplomat to a few stubborn tribes on the out edges of Vanaheim with the Warriors, she should be back any day no and will most likely find her way into your bed sooner rather later. And I do not become Cranky any more because the Beast and I have come to an agreement, we've fused and become one."

"When Thor becomes Cranky now, he goes into the Berserker Rage and only I, our mothers and our children can pull him back from it." Loki smiled darkly. "I was too fond of the Beast and the Man to pick one over of the other so I altered Lady Jalan's curse and turned it into a blessing. However, because of my magics and Thor's rather animalistic characteristics, our children have quirks of their own... Sleipnir can turn into an 8 legged Horse, Jörmungandr can become a snake and grow to any size and Fenrir turns into a dire Ice Wolf. Each obviously take after their namesakes and my dear sweet Hel is getting the best tutelage from Hela the Current Queen of Helheim. It seems my mother brought my children from the last time and had them keep the Realms somewhat in balance since I've never met my wife Sigyn, who is the ancestor of Lady Darcy."

"Yay, I'm somewhat related to the best Badass Mage in the Universe!" Darcy crowed, making the others laugh.

"Indeed." Loki chuckled.

"We had not expected for Malekith's soul to break free of Helheim nor to seduce one of Lord Death's attendants nor to steal his book and unleash the dishonored and tormented souls. He attempted to make it look like Hel was doing it, but my daughter knows better than to mess with the Dead in such a way."

"My Necro Arts are meant to help others and to lend aid, but it doesn't mean I will not summon them to wipe out a threat to my family." She sniffed.

"Hel." Loki sighed. "I regret allowing you to spend so much time with Lady Seren..."

"That's so mean!" giggled a soft voice as they all jumped seeing two women appear from nowhere.

"Granny! Granny Star!" the children cried running to the two women who smiled.

"Hello darlings... we were just coming by to give your Auntie Natasha something and then we have to go away for a while. It seems some little shit is starting a war on the other side of the Galaxy and it is annoying us to no end." Rhyg smiled, kissing her grandchildren on their brows before she tossed something to the former Russian spy.

"Wait! Before you go I have to ask, all this started with the Infinity stones, and obviously we broke all of them expect the one in Vision, but where are the real ones?" Tony called. "It's been bugging me to no end."

"..." Seren and Rhyg shared a look and burst into laughter. "Sorry!"

"Not Sorry!" Rhyg cackled. "Oh man, that was a good laugh! But to answer your question, I hid them in plain view, all six together and literally under your noses."

They blinked looking around the room before Rye rolled her eyes and walked up to Loki, he blinked as his mother grabbed his left wrist and ran her fingers lovingly over the bracelet. Suddenly a dawning look entered his eyes and gasped.

"You-"

"Yep. I said it before, only a Mischief has the potential to become the next Chaos. And there is a reason you are so powerful, my son. It takes vast amounts of power to hold the Universe in a constant dance of Chaos and Order." She winked and then she and Seren were gone.

"Wait! She didn't answer-"

"She did..." Loki chuckled, holding his left hand to his face as he looked at his bracelet, seeing the six colorful stones and now knowing the truth behind the gift. "My mother and aunt work in mysterious ways and no one can truly understand their mad plans except for them because why not have something powerful and dangerous hidden and protected by something equally as powerful and dangerous..."

"Mommy?" Hel called and he smiled at her, taking his hand from his face. "Granny gave them to someone like her?"

"Indeed and they will guard the secret to their death after all if no one knows by now where they are, then they will never know..."

"You mom is crazy."

"Chaos." the Godly family stated, making everyone laugh.

"What did she give you, Nat?" Clint wondered.

Natasha looked over the bottle in her hands and the folded note tied to it. She and Bruce read it over and gasped, Natasha bursting into tears which startled everyone but Loki, who smiled brightly when she looked up at him.

"You-"

"I'm a Mage, and married to the God of Thunder and Fertility, mortals cannot hope to beat our magics." Loki smiled.

"Thank you!" Bruce smiled, glad his secret wife was going to finally have her dream come true.

"What is it!?" everyone else cried.

"A potion... to reverse what they did to me when I completed my training... I can have children!" She cried and tackled Bruce with a bruising kiss as the others all began to celebrate.

As they descended into familial chaos, Thor and Loki smiled softly, kissing as their children went to go make friends with the few others there.

"And to think this all started because my sire could not keep it in his pants..."

"Indeed. I love you, Thor..."

"I love you, Civip Kethend..."

Fin.


End file.
